


Spellthief

by CeruleanOak



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Demacia, F/M, Noxus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-01 04:56:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 120,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1040588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanOak/pseuds/CeruleanOak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Being a Noxian means that we always have a choice and that we can become anything we want. Never let anyone tell you that you aren't in control, but don't believe that change is easy, either."</p><p>"I didn't know what I wanted, but I knew I wanted it to be my choice."</p><p>When Luxanna Crownguard, a teenage Demacian with extraordinary magical power, undertakes a dangerous mission taking her deep into the heart of Noxus, she finds herself face-to-face with one of the city's most dangerous assassins, Katarina Du Couteau.  Under the false identity of 'Sinistra', Lux works to infiltrate Noxus's government and discover the intentions of Katarina's father, one of the five generals of the High Command.  But it won't be easy.  While the Du Couteau's track her every step, a rogue Noxian named Ayer seeks to help Lux in her mission, intent to stop the Du Couteau's at all costs.  Reginald, one of many Demacian spies and a childhood friend, will do everything he can to keep Lux safe.  With the help of Ayer, Reginald, Cecil (a yordle child with a thirst for adventure), and the rest of Demacia's 'Sprig of Silver' spy network, Lux leads one of the greatest infiltrations in Demacian history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Noxus, The City of Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, summoners! This work is complete, and I have decided not to edit it. Because the changes to League lore are so dramatic, it would be too time intensive to make the changes I would like to, so please endure any poorly written portions, plotholes or grammatical errors and enjoy Spellthief for what it is.
> 
> This work is dedicated to the Journal of Justice and all of the summoners that love not only the champions that they play but the stories that make them relatable and memorable.
> 
> Lux is one of those champions that never got their chance to truly shine, and my hope is that you'll see in her the same things that I saw and brought to light in this story. Aaaaand that's enough light puns for one post.
> 
> Thank you for all of those who demanded that I complete this. It really means a lot. Enjoy!
> 
> Shout-out to r/leagueoflegends, because you got me into League Lore, and to my beautiful wife "monwatson" (who is an AO3 Sherlock lurker but is also soon to post an AMAZING story)!

Bright golden locks of hair swayed in the putrid wind that flowed through the catacombs beneath Noxus, betraying the hidden beauty under an ugly green cloak. No eyes had caught the figure save those of the all-seeing dead that lay there. Their gaze was returned by a pair of glimmering blue eyes that betrayed fear, but also an intensity of determination.

They belonged to Luxanna Crownguard, but that name was no longer hers. She was a Noxian now, a woman without honor, without a home, without a family. This was what she knew she must become, attached to nothing, recalling nothing, lest her beautiful eyes and face betray her and thus end her. For all she knew of Noxus was death and despair. She knew its history and its champions, and she saw it all here, in the tombs of Noxians forgotten.

This frightening place reinforced her opinion of the city, for who could bury their dead in such a way? The skeletons were stacked in columns that lined the walls. There was no writing of deeds, no family crests or even names, only piles of bodies, many to a tomb. A warrior, an artist, a tradesman? Nothing was remembered here.

Here was where things were forgotten.

I must forget, she said to herself. If my identity is found out, that I am a Demacian and a Crownguard, a far worse fate will await me than these poor souls here.

A fair white hand emerged from beneath the cloak and brushed the locks of hair back into the hood. She pressed her shoulders to the cold stone wall and glanced down the black corridor.

It would do no good to linger here. She hoped to delay, but she had little reason to spend time pondering. Left alone with her thoughts, she might start up a conversation with one of the corpses.

Of course, that was her natural cheerfulness attempting to stave off her unease.

She waved her hand towards the darkness and stole from it all the light it had to give. She took it into the palm of her hand and then let it go, floating in front of her, ebbing a soft glow into the catacomb.

She stared at the ball of light humming a sweet and memorable sound. She had brought no possessions to affect her, nothing to remind her of beautiful Demacia, her home. But she had her magic with her, powerful and constant.

Lux closed her eyes. She could feel the light's warmth comfort her. Heart pounding, she breathed deeply.

"There is no dark place that light cannot penetrate," she whispered to herself.

Slowly, the light began to waver, causing the shadows to flicker. Then it was gone. The darkness enveloped her again, hiding her in shadows save for a small amount of moonlight peeking through the ceiling that revealed her slightly downcast face. Fierce blue eyes emerged.

"Be brave, Lux."

She stood up, placed her hand upon the wall and, one foot in front of the other, made her way towards the streets of Noxus.

The catacomb ended with a porthole gleaming with an orange light. She opened it slowly, revealing the torchlight of a busy Noxian evening. Raucous laughter filled the air. While she had slowly grown tolerant of the foul air of the catacombs, new smells made themselves at home in her sensitive nose. She grimaced.

Her small hands, once lady-like, had become calloused by the strict training of the Demacian military. They gripped the ladder bars, one by one, reaching towards the light of the city, but it seemed to be a foul light, a man-made light of the evening accompanying a stench and the sound of disconcerting laughter. They felt the dirt and mud against the road as she rose into what would be her new home.

She emerged into a gallery of mirth. A dusty, rubbish-lined street of cobblestone was packed with the feet of Noxian men and women, chasing the thrill of the evening extravagance.

Lux had chosen to enter Noxus on this night, hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible. She knew that all eyes were off the streets tonight and gazing into their viewing portals. Tonight there would be a broadcast live from the Institute of War: the game known as the League of Legends.

The League, being that it was the greatest sport in all of Valoran, would have every eye in Noxus tuned into the performance of its beloved champions, leaving her strange entrance free from much attention.

"Forever strong!" yelled a bearded man who stood right above her, holding a pint of Noxian brew. He wasn't exactly standing as much as leaning against a lamppost, his arms hanging around it as if it were a lady. He alone noticed Lux as she emerged from the porthole, brushing off the dust of bones from her cloak and who knew what else. He stared at Lux.

"Ye'r beautiful," slurred the cross-eyed vagrant. His large hat slipped over his head, a dead-looking flower attached to it.

Lux didn't respond. She glanced at him wide-eyed and then back down to her cloak, continuing to pat at it. Looking around, the crowd seemed to be moving in a general direction. With such tall buildings, she found it difficult to get her bearings, but she believed that was the way towards the Palladium, her rendezvous. She stepped forward into the crowd and moved with it.

"Just as beautiful from the back side," the man shouted, laughing loud and in various directions to nobody in particular.

"My first friend," Lux said to herself with a helpless smile.

The crowd was moving fairly inconsistently but mostly in the general direction of the Noxian stadium, the Palladium of Valor. Various individuals called out into the night towards them.

"Enjoy Noxus's finest brew and watch the League!"

"Cheer for the desolation of Demacia! Free poker chips with your entry!"

"View portals among the comfort of our lovely ladies!"

Many a Noxian stopped and diverted to these offers, but the majority of them were bound for the glory of the gigantic venue at the Palladium. Lux's mind was elsewhere. She was meeting someone, a man who was already living here in Noxus. He would provide her with further instruction.

She looked up at the starless night sky, framed by the tall wooden buildings that pressed in on the street.

Lux's shoulder was shoved as an eager Noxian pressed forward through the crowd. She was being bounced around like a leaf in the wind, no one paying her any mind. Groups of people were traveling together. She passed a troop of soldiers who had stopped to admire one of the many brothels that lined this street.

People were laughing and cheering, everyone seeming to be excited and enjoying themselves, save Lux. Only sixteen, she was the youngest member of the Demacian Security Brigade and certainly the youngest of their spies. She was accepted into the military at only thirteen as a mage. While her skills alone were impressive enough, it had still required some coaxing to get the old, respectable leaders of the military to agree to send a young, fragile-looking girl into the very heart of the enemy, but she had convinced them.

While she was surrounded by older, stronger Noxian soldiers and brutes, Lux knew that with a wave of her hand she could overpower any of them. But what terrified her was the sheer number of people in the city itself. There were hundreds of them, all enemies of Demacia, all hating Demacia, all willing to have a go at her if there was even a hint of her support for her nation.

They passed a large view portal that was laid out across the street. Staircases and tables on either side of the intersection were covered with viewers, some even seen sitting on the rooftops and windows. Lux looked up and saw the banner of the League of Legends, written in golden letters, being streamed in from the Institute of War.

The viewers pounded on the tables with the cry of "Noxus!" followed by two loud thumps, repeatedly.

As she glanced at the magical portal, it flickered and she caught a glimpse of a handsome Demacian who was immediately booed by the onlookers. He bore the banner colors of gold and blue across thick armor of bronze. His short hair was an auburn brown that swayed in the wind. His eyes were calm and determined, looking over the battlefield, quietly preparing his mind for battle.

"Go back to Demacia, pretty boy!" shouted a teenage Noxian at the screen. Everyone in the crowd nearby laughed and cheered.

A pair of speakers called out to the crowd. "First pick! Garen Crownguard, the Might of Demacia! Betting channels are now open!"

Lux's breath paused. That warrior was her brother.

"Cut him down!" cried another onlooker.

She halted her steps, staring at the eyes of her only sibling.

"Keep moving, Goldie!" growled an elderly woman who shoved into her.

Lux came to her senses and continued, readjusting the hood of her cloak. The chants of "Noxus!" continued.

She had never met her elder brother. He had fought for the Dauntless Vanguard since she was a child and had been in the academy before that. But she nevertheless loved him from a distance.  He had written her letters, bought her gifts for her birthday...

There was a worry in the back of her mind. There is a saying in the military that you can control every facet of your mind and body, to create a perfect tool for service. But the one unpredictability, something that you cannot control, is the effect caused by the involvement of family and friends. She quickly put this worry aside. There was no going back now.

Turning a corner, the Palladium was revealed, draped in colorful banners with the faces of summoners, men and women in hooded, purple robes. The building itself was so old, with columns extending several stories tall framing arches one after the other, through which Lux could see attendants shuffling around.

A bearded gentleman was holding the crowd at bay, allowing them to pass through a metal gate as they showed their tickets. Lux did so along with the others.

"Enjoy the game, lass," said the man. He looked at her specifically. She didn't know the man, but he looked at her as though he knew her. He returned her stare with a quick wink as she passed. A bit unsettled, she pushed her way through the shuffling masses into the structure.

The building loomed over her as she was practically pushed through its entrance, torches hanging above her. The stone corridors blocked the foul air from outside, replacing it with a wet musk. She passed large statues of figures she did not recognize. They looked like gladiators and mythical beasts.

As the crowds diverged, Lux found herself at freedom to stop. She could see now, through one of the wide arches, the inside of the Palladium. Pennants of red and black flew across the hundreds of towers and posts lining the inside of the stadium. The coliseum was circular with rows of stone seats all around.

A robed man approached her.

"Do you require assistance finding your seat?"

He was attired with the same color of robe as the summoners on the banners.

"Um..." Lux was wary who to talk to directly.

"Please, your ticket," the man did not seem to acknowledge her. He was older with a white beard. Lux complied by showing him the ticket.

"Are you... a summoner?" she asked reluctantly.

He glanced up at her while looking at the ticket. "This is the traditional dress of all members of the Institute of War. Summoners strictly do not leave the Institute for many reasons."

"Oh, I see."

Apparently the Institute of War controlled the broadcasts instead of Noxus, even inside the city itself. The Institute seemed to control everything these days, even in Demacia. Ever since the Rune Wars...

"You've got a great seat," he said. "Four corridors to your right, and you're on the 3rd level."

It didn't really sound like a great seat. She thanked the man and followed his directions. Ignoring the food and drink vendors she passed, she entered the fourth corridor and drew towards the center of the stadium, where she finally got a good view of the field... what they called The Fields of Justice.

A large jungle was laid out where normally there must have been a dirt floor. The vision was a magical projection, similar to the luminous screens she saw out on the streets. Clearly, on each side of this faux jungle, were two stone platforms. Everything appeared in miniature.

Of course, this was simply a map to entertain the viewers. The real game was taking place at the Institute of War, a small city-state roughly half the distance from Noxus to Demacia.

"Demacia Vs. Noxus, the battle of the year!" shouted a robed coliseum worker to her as she ascended the stone steps. "Programs! Noxian autographs!"

"No, thank you," said Lux, making her way towards a conspicuous seat that was covered in a black blanket.

The man abruptly grabbed her arm.

"Support Noxus," he insisted, as she struggled. "Where is your love of your country?"

Lux looked around. Everyone present was fashioned with the colors of Noxus, on their clothes, on banners and flags, even coloring their hair or skin. Without realizing it, she was sticking out like a sore thumb in her green cloak.

"I'll take a flag," she said, untying her purse. The man examined her, his brow furrowed. "And a program." She produced the coins. She had plenty to spare. Demacia had seen to that.

The man smiled a forced smile before turning away. "Noxus has your thanks, miss. Programs! Support Noxus!"

The man moved on and Lux turned quickly away. Had she already forgotten that she was in danger?  She approached the empty blanket and sat, putting her hands to her head. It made her sick to pay the man, knowing it went straight to the Noxian military, to fuel their evil war machine. Had she bought a blade that would harm an innocent Demacian, Ionian, or any other free citizen?

She looked at the program in her hand. On its cover was a gruesome face, surely the face of Sion, one of Noxus's soldiers that for Noxians was the face of the League of Legends.

Noxus's heroes were killers, assassins and soldiers who justified their actions in the name of the Noxian High Command. Men and women without honor, without morals. It was disgusting.

She thought of her brother Garen, a proud Demacian who fought for justice, for what was good and right. He was a true champion. Why did he have to share a stage with these villains?

Every turn of the page made her more distraught. She was blindly feeding her hatred of Noxus, even as she meant to become one of them.

"Could you try to look a little less like an enemy of the state?"

Lux nearly had a heart attack. A figure of black and red stood beside her. In contrast to her, he was covered head-to-toe in Noxian regalia. He even sported a fake Sion mask, which gave him a slightly muffled voice. She relaxed when she finally recognized who it was.

"Reginald!" Lux gasped. "I didn't realize it was you at first."

"I know you're new at this, but I didn't think you were stupid," he said, removing the mask. He had black hair and wide eyes, like he was in a constant state of surprise. His head shook disapprovingly. They had trained together in Demacia, though he was quite a few years her elder.

He sat down next to her. "At least try and look like you don't absolutely hate everything and everyone here."

Lux gave her flag a half-hearted wave. "Yaaaay, Noxus."

"That's the spirit!" he said, ignoring her sarcasm and shaking the flag for her. It waved in her face.

She sighed. "You've had the advantage of being here for a year, Reg. I just got here."

"And you won't be here for long with that attitude. Look, I think we're going to have to stay the whole match. It's already about to start, and I say it's less conspicuous to leave after it's all done."

Lux's head was turned, arms crossed. "Makes sense."

"I'm serious, though. About the whole cheering for Noxus thing."

Lux turned to him brandishing a mean scowl. "I'll be sure to cheer when my brother is run through with a spear."

Reginald's jovial facade briefly faded. "Your brother..."

Before he had a chance to reason with her, a booming voice filled the torchlit arena, making further conversation impossible.

"Welcome, viewers, to another exciting broadcast of the League of Legends!"

The crowd erupted in cheers as a glowing image appeared high above the jungle, floating in the air. It was a man at a desk, apparently a broadcaster.

"I'm your host, Damien Flowers, coming to you live from the Institute of War, where our brave champions have been prepping to fight. Let's take a look at the picks for each team..."

More and more Noxians began to shuffle in around Lux and Reginald. Lux did her best to compose herself for Reg's sake. Everyone else looked excited and here she was clearly not wanting to be there. They couldn't speak openly with each other anymore, so it looked like she was stuck there until it was all over. She prayed that nothing would happen to Garen.

Reg immediately broke into excited, confusing explanations on the strengths of each featured champion and the strategies that may be employed by them. He would hoot and clap at something the broadcaster had said. He turned to Lux occasionally, who made no effort to humor him. He would jab her in the side with his elbow. This did nothing to improve her mood.

The announcer continued...

"Joining me today as our special guest commentator is none other than a legendary champion from the League himself. Welcome to the show, Veigar."

The broadcast zoomed out to reveal another individaul sitting at the casting table, a tiny man dressed in robes covered in an over-abundance of spikes. An over-sized wizard's cap and cloak hid most of his face in black shadows. The little person slammed his metal (and spiked) gauntlets onto the table. His yellow eyes glowed from beneath his hood. His voice was high-pitched and screeching, like that of a yelling child who had smoked cigarettes for ten years.

"I command all of you watching to kneel! Kneel before the all-powerful might of your new master!"

"What a character," Flowers laughed. "Tell me, Veigar. What are your expectations for the match today?"

"Silence, henchman," Veigar spat. He raised his gauntlets above his head. "This broadcast is now under the absolute control of Veigar, the Master of Evil!"

The announcer responded by chortling. The crowd around Lux did the same.

Veigar glanced around, looking annoyed. "It's true! All of you here are in terrible danger, and you must hear my exceptional demands for your safety."

"Well, Veigar, we'll have to talk about your adorable terrorism later. Let's take a look at a short clip from one of Demacia's champions today."

Veigar shouted "Wait!" before the screen cut away. The face of Garen appeared, hovering above the stadium. The audience jeered loudly and vehemently. Lux's hands left her cheeks and clasped together.

An unseen interviewer called out to him as he walked through some corridor. "Garen, Garen, what are your expectations for the match today?"

The armored man turned briefly to the screen, his Demacian-blue scarf swinging around. "The will of Demacia is strong, and I trust that justice will be done on the field today."

He looked strong and confident. It made Lux feel a little better. He was the very definition of Demacian strength.

"How do you expect to overcome Noxus's strategy?"

"As you know," replied Garen. "We adhere only to the will of our summoners, who lead us in battle. I trust that their strategy against Noxus will be sound. My goal today is only to provide them with excellence and fortitude in accomplishing the instructions I am given."

An armored, angelic figure came into view behind Garen, armored in gold and red with a regal, slitted helmet and a pair of massive, bright white wings. Hidden underneath the armor, Lux knew, was a fierce woman who chose to fight alongside Demacia.

"Kayle! Kayle! Where will you be positioned?"

"The unseen face turned in the direction of the interviewer, saying nothing. She put a firm hand on Garen's shoulder, who returned a reassuring glance. Garen responded on her behalf.

"We'll share no secrets today. With good fortune, you'll see us both on the Fields of Justice."

Flowers returned to the screen. "That was an interview earlier today. Of course, we will be seeing them both tonight now that picks have been revealed... Speaking of Kayle, this broadcast is brought to you by Sinful Succulence, a new bakery in the Noxus Ivory Ward opened by none other than Kayle's sister Morgana. Our favorite fallen angel welcomes you to try her delicious cookies. Our betting tables are showing heavy favor towards a Noxus victory today. Veigar? How do you feel about Demacia's chances?"

The wizards cap quivered and Veigar's hands began to shake. The tiny wizard screamed. "Why did Noxus not select me to destroy these Demacian worms? My powers are undeniable! My will is unstoppable!"

"It's true that the champions we will be seeing on Summoner's Rift today (as well as their summoners) will only be those who hail as representatives of their own city. It'll be a true battle between Demacia and Noxus tonight."

"I look forward to watching them die!"

The crowd gave a hearty cheer of agreement. Lux glanced at Reg, who was focused on the screen.

"Here's another clip, this one of some of Demacia's opponents."

The crowd cheered as Noxian champions appeared on the screen. In contrast to Garen and Kayle, they looked far less stoic and more ruthless. Lux recognized the hulking mass of Sion, wielding a massive axe. She had read in the program that he had been a great Noxian warrior who was executed by Demacia, yet he was somehow brought back to life through the use of forbidden magic..

"Sion!" the loudspeakers yelled with the voice of another interviewer. "Are you ready to face Demacia today?"

The image zoomed in on Sion's face. His skin was lifeless in color, and yet it moved. His eyes were like gateways into something other than a soul. His mouth cracked, bone against bone, into a smile, revealing rotten teeth. His voice cackled in a thick accent that Lux didn't quite recognize.

"I will face Demacia, summonah," he growled. "Da question ees, will dey have any faces after I am done chopping at dem!"

At this, the Noxians roared with approval, shouting Sion's name. The brute was apparently quite the crowd-pleaser.

"Blood will be speeled! Repay da blood with blood!"

The crowd started to make unsettling amounts of noise, many were screaming obscenities and threats. They had been riled up into a mob now. Lux was amazed at the pure amount of animosity there was against Demacia. She couldn't believe that all of this emotion was motivated simply by the magical images that displayed in front of them. These champions were all at the Institute of War, broadcasting mere images, and yet they could initiate such chaos. The Institute, she surmised, had more power than she'd realized.

The idea of the League of Legends, first and foremost, was to prevent war. These matches were fought in place of real battle. Both Noxus and Demacia had agreed to settle their differences through sport rather than with the lives of their people. It was, she had always thought, such a peaceful alternative to bloodshed. But she had never been so frightened in her life as in the presence of this bloodthirsty crowd.

Was this a better alternative? The bloodshed was gone, but the bloodlust remained. And now, the war was no longer far away. It was here, in the homes of the people. Now everyone was a part of the war.

The clip with Sion ended, and Damien and Veigar appeared on the screen again.

"That was our look at some of the champions we'll see on the field today. And now, the match is about to begin. The summoning has begun!"

The battlefield below them was stretched out across the stadium ground. Five beams of light on each side of the map indicated the presence of the two teams of champions. Above the field, four small camera screens displayed a closer look at them. Five Demacians and five Noxians, who all began to sprint from the platform where they had been summoned, each of them holding various weapons.

"They're leaving the platform and making their way into the jungle."

The crowd cheered and resumed it's chant of "Noxus!"

Lux gazed across the arena floor. A dense jungle separated the two platforms, with a river flowing through its center. The river ran perpendicular to the battlefield, like a line drawn in the sand where the two armies would inevitably clash.

Leading the charge was Kayle. Blazing with golden armor, she was beautiful in both form and manner, a kind of glory. Lux had never seen Kayle's face, but physical beauty was irrelevant as the angel's strength and valor was more than enough for her to admire.

The announcer continued.

"We can see our team carries rushing towards each other. They will be vying for control of the map today. Read the cue cards, Veigar."

"I can read, fool!" The little mage leaned forward, his seemingly glowing eyes squinting. " 'The... Judicator, Kayle... Her sword blazing to inflict judgment?' Who wrote this crap? She's a flappy angel girl with a moral superiority complex. She doesn't even know any magic! I, on the other hand, am the most powerful mage the world has ever known."

"Veigar, read the cue cards!" Damien demanded through a teethed smile.

"Your cue cards cannot contain me, summoner! My power exceeds beyond the power of cue cards!"

Damien slapped his head with his free hand.

"Like I was saying, she is powerless in the use of real magic."

"Not true, Veigar," Flowers resumed. "She can save lives out there. She has the power to protect her team from harm."

"Ah, yes. The curious power of divine intervention. No spellbooks, no scrolls, no wands. Clearly it is some kind of parlor trick."

Flowers laughed in the way announcers do and slammed Veigar on the back, inadvertently knocking him nearly off his seat and causing his wizards cap to fall over his face.

"Some would say more than a trick, our little 'Master of Evil'." He continued to chuckle and shake his head at the pitiful wizard, playing for the audience, who seemed to be enjoying the commentary.

"I am evil!" insisted Veigar, who stood on his seat and seemed to be addressing the audience itself. "Stop laughing!"

Of course, at this, the Palladium audience started hooting with laughter and applauding.

Flowers wiped away a tear. "Oh, Veigar. Well, back to the battle. The center of the map is the most crucial, so we'll be seeing a lot of Kayle. Meeting her at the center of the arena, gaze upon the lovely Katarina, a true flower of Noxus, the Sinister Blade!"

"Katarina," Lux muttered under her breath. She was one of Demacia's most notorious enemies. An assassin with unmatched agility and brutality. She was a stark contrast to Kayle, beautiful in appearance in most respects but repulsive to Lux in all other ways. Her contours were mesmerizing, her skin lacking imperfections, her hair glowed crimson like blood in the wind, but underneath that beauty was a powerful, selfish creature that openly mocked the values of Demacia.

Katarina dashed up the jungle path, passing a massive stone tower that guarded the river's edge. Here, she stopped. Holding two curved blades against her gloved wrists, she leaned against the tower, hip to one side. She wore skin-tight black leather pants and a half-length jacket with an exposed midriff and cleavage, seemingly challenging onlookers to distract themselves with her beauty. But the most menacing attire was her face: a pair of cold, green eyes, one of them cut across with a noticeable scar, and a smile that betrayed the love of steel and death.

Kayle arrived opposite her, in contrast soaring with the flaps of her massive white wings, wielding a longsword of gold, which she held upright in front of her, head lowered.

Lux's gaze wandered about the map, finally discovering a light that represented her brother. She fixated on it. While the play-by-play was not showing him now, she could tell by this marking where he was in the field. She could imagine him, deep in the jungle, mere footsteps from enemy lines.

Reginald put his hand on Lux's leg. She exchanged a look with him, looking for reassurance. Somewhat surprisingly, she found it in his eyes. They had been close friends in the academy, despite her being so young compared to him. He was a kind of older brother that she never had in her family's mansion.

The noisy crowd around them was coming to their feet. Lux knew what that meant. They were eager for "first blood", the match's first death. The two of them reluctantly stood up. She reached for Reginald's hand. He leaned over and spoke over the roar of the crowd.

"It won't be him."

They stood together and gazed at the Field of Justice. Why wouldn't she accept those words? She felt now how she had felt in the catacombs, struggling to conquer a deep fear inside of her that she never knew she had. This city was revealing it to her.

The crowd shook their fists with a terrible ferocity, lit by hundreds of fiery torches. Some were screaming for blood, others devouring food between cheers. They were a fearsome organism, thirsting for the blood of its enemies. They were the cog in the machine to her, previously unseen in her history books: the fuel of war. She really feared them. She could control magic like a potter molds clay, but she couldn't control a single one of these countless souls.

"Here come the armies!"

On the platforms at the jungle's edge were large crystals, the same crystals Lux recognized from her history lessons about the Rune Wars. The crystals hummed and began to spin. Suddenly, light began to materialize from them, forming into shapes. The shapes became armies of armed soldiers, who immediately raced for the battlefield, slamming shields and brandishing weapons.

Flowers' voice could still be heard over the battle. "The first blows have been struck!"

Steel met as the soldiers braved the muddy soil along the river's shallows. The armies seemed to meet like waves crashing against each other as they travelled along the jungle path. The battle scene was curtained by the two massive towers on each side of the river. Behind the Demacian army of soldiers, Kayle barked commands, flying among them.

Her and her opponent seemed to duel each other, a kind of dance. Katarina ducked and dodged between her minions, cutting her enemies down with ease, as Kayle hovered over them, occasionally making decisive strikes.

The soldiers would fall when wounded and vanish. They were not real soldiers, Lux realized, but products of magic. Summoning magic was stunning to witness, one of the key attractions for mages such as herself. Somewhere at the Institute of War, these summoners were performing an unseen ballet of swirling magic that concocted this massive and grand illusion.

She turned her gaze to another set of towers farther downriver, where she saw her brother not yet rallying his troops. He was assisting another of his comrades in the thick of the jungle itself, but now he emerged, rejoining his army.

"Demacian scum!" yelled a dark voice. Lux thought it had come from the crowd, but it had come from one of the screens.

It belonged to the bounding hulk of Sion, who now charged forward beyond the safety of his soldiers, ignoring all other opponents, wielding his terrifying axe.

Flowers' voice could be heard over the action. "Looks like Sion's axe 'Chopper' is ready for blood, folks."

"Sion! Sion!" the crowd cheered.

"Press forward!" Garen commanded, ignoring Sion's jeers. He took a defensive stance as the massive soldier bore down upon him, swinging his axe over his head.

"Sion is ignoring the battle and going straight for Garen!"

His broadsword his only shield, Garen swung it deftly from his left to his right, successfully blocking these first attempts, but something seemed to stop him as Sion's eyes glowed red. A bolt of lightning shot from lifeless eyes into that of Garen's causing the Demacian soldier to falter. Sion took advantage of a free hit, slicing at Garen's shoulder plate. The soldier yelled in pain.

"What happened?" Lux asked Reginald, still gripping his hand.

"His gaze," he replied. "When Sion was resurrected, the necromancers granted him some kind of undead magic. It seems like it's paralyzing him."

Lux's jaw clenched. It was only the beginning of the fight, and already Noxus was targeting her brother. They knew, as she did, that he was a bulwark. If they could bring him down early, they would have a massive advantage.

As Sion continued to press his enemy, Garen backed down nearer the protection of his tower. He glanced up at it, the boar-headed structure seemed to hum with energy.  

The Demacian soldiers clambered over Sion, striking him from behind and jumping on him.

"Sion is fighting Garen even under the guard tower!" yelled the announcer. "Look at him take those shots! The man is insane!"

Sion laughed maniacally, chopping away at Garen, glancing his armor occasionally, knocking Garen farther back. They were so far back from the river now that the dirt was hard, and the glowing eyes of the tower lit up. With a loud "bang" a glowing ball of light shot out of it and struck Sion hard in the chest. The intensity of it was such that it knocked him backwards and likewise the soldiers around him.

But the undead soldier seemed unfazed. He retreated out of the tower's range, still laughing, and pulled out what looked like two glass flasks. He began guzzling them down.

Lux turned again to the view portal of the announcers.

"Veigar, with those magic potions, Sion is regaining his strength," Flowers explained. "He'll be good as new in seconds, even after all that damage he's taken. The same can't be said for Garen, who's taken quite a beating."

"Behold, fool! Your end is near!" Veigar yelled directly at Flowers, producing a strange, glowing box and slamming it onto the announcer's table. "I warned you to take me seriously, and now no one at the Institute is safe... Behold, my doomsday device!"

The crowd began to boo and holler obscenities at the screen. They clearly had no more interest in what was going on in the announcer's box.

Flowers looked visibly displeased. "Really, Veigar? Another bomb scare? Why do we even bring him on?" he seemed to be calling to someone off-screen.

Veigar only started laughing uncontrollably as the box started to hiss and smoke.

"Ahahahahaha!"

Suddenly, the screen went black. The crowd began to make uneven sounds of confusion and frustration. They had no commentary for the action, but the battle continued nevertheless.

"Look!" Reginald pointed at the map. "Sion is retreating over there."

Sion disappeared into a dense brush. He wielded a small item and unceremoniously flung it into the ground. From the head of a golden rod emerged a large glowing eye, glancing around and emitting an eerie green light.  The eye blinked as though awakening from a deep sleep.

"That's a sight ward!" Reginald commented. "It's a magical eye that is invisible to everyone but its owner."

"So there's no way for him to know it's there?" Lux asked, concerned.

Reginald paused briefly. "No, no, he can't."

Sion showed his yellow, rotten teeth before he returned to the safety of his troops by the river, his feet splashing in the mud and water.

The announcer's screen came alive again. The studio looked veiled in smoke. Damien's hair looked unkempt and Veigar was now gone.

"We apologize, viewers, for the slight interruption. Everything is fine now. Let's just get back to the battle. It looks like Demacia is making the next move. It's a 3-on-3 engagement at the third lane!"

But Lux wasn't watching. She could see on the map below that Garen was headed straight for the same river brush, leaving the few soldiers left behind him.

"No, brother," she whispered. "They can see you there."

But then she remembered. It wasn't him making the calls. He was following the orders of his summoner, whether he knew better or not.

"Wait, something is happening, folks, up at the top lane!" Flowers shouted.

A large cannon mounted on wheels trudged its way towards the tower, surrounded by Noxian soldiers.  Sion, apparently ignoring Garen, proceeded to join them.  Garen watched them from a distance and crouched, seemingly hidden at the edge of the brush.

"Garen is battered, but he's not out folks. If he can flank Sion under the protection of his tower, he'll have a tactical advantage. This could be Demacia's chance... but wait!"

The brush around Garen suddenly glowed a bright green light, and the eye of the ward floated high into the air, its gaze locked onto Garen. If Garen could see this light he did not react to it.  The announcer's voice slowly grew in excitement.

"Noxus has a ward there. We must have missed it. If Garen doesn't retreat now he could be- No! Sion's after him!"

The crowd began to cheer in a mad fury. Sion's eyes locked with Garen's and the Demacian's face betrayed fear. A second bolt of red lightning shot out from the eyes of Sion as his armored mass barreled towards the brush, leaving his troops at the tower. The lightning burned at Garen's face, causing him to collapse uncontrollably to the ground.

"He's stunned him again," said Reginald. He glanced worriedly at Lux.

"I have you now, Crownguard!" the thick voice screamed as a decisive axe blow cut into Garen's shoulder. Lux's hands flew to her mouth to prevent a sound of horror from emerging. The axe was now glowing a hot red, boiling with a hellish mist.

"Chop! Chop! Chop!" all of Noxus seemed to yell with every swing of Sion's axe.

"Garen can't move," Flowers announced. "He's taking so much damage. I don't think he'll be able to stand this for long."

Get out of there, Lux pleaded in her mind. Get out!

Blow after blow, Garen struggled to get to his feet and retreat. His competitor would not relent. The Demacian soldiers were now of no help, defending the tower, oblivious to Garen's plight.

Finally, the axe missed its mark, striking a tree, and gave Garen a chance. He struck Sion with his sword in an heroic leap, causing his enemy to flinch. His face matted with blood, Garen retreated successfully, leaping out of the brush and diving straight into the shallow river, leaving a red trail in the water behind him. His armor sloshed slowly through the water. Ahead, a small path back to the jungle lay far before him. If he could just reach it, maybe he could get back to the summoner's platform alive.

"Will Garen escape? I don't think the Noxian summoners will allow it. Look!"

Chains began magically shooting out of the ground and wrapping around Garen's legs. Every step he took now looked like an intense effort. He struggled to shake them off of himself.

"Sion's summoner has cast a spell of exhaustion. Look at how it affects him!"

Garen began to spit blood. He thrust his sword into the ground and leaned upon it in an effort to push forward. The chains were gone, but it appeared as though they had melted into his muscles, making every movement a struggle. Sion now too emerged from the brush, dashing through the water until he was mere steps from Garen, axe over his head.

"This is it, folks. Garen's not walking away from this one, not unless his summoner does something right now."

Do something! Lux wanted so badly to shout, but she couldn't give herself away around all these Noxians.

But nothing seemed to happen. Garen simply kneeled helplessly, his back now pressed against the embankmentl, his lungs heaving, raising his head to see the oncoming death. Even now, he maintained the appearance of a soldier.

Lux couldn't look away. She wanted to...

Suddenly, Flowers began to yell like mad.

"Kayle has left her lane! She's downriver!"

Sion's blade struck home, with all of his might, but it bounced. A fierce "clang" shot out, sparks flying. A gold spherical barrier was surrounding Garen, appearing seemingly from nowhere. No harm had been done to him.

"Divine intervention! Garen is impervious! He still has a chance, folks!"

Kayle swooped in on white wings over the water, golden blade glowing with fire, swinging violently at Sion, who was forced to back away. The villain barked angrily at her, fending off her blows with his axe.

Garen slowly stood up, looking near collapse, and started to make his way to the safety of the jungle.

"No!" shouted Sion, noticing Garen's escape. Lightning shot from his eyes, stunning Kayle. His skin suddenly seemed to crawl with a ghoulish glow. He ran head down, pushing right through the angel. Water flew everywhere as he took massive steps back towards Garen, who looked over his shoulder.

"He's one slice away from sure death. There's no intervention to save him now."

Sion's gleaming axe swung at the air, hitting nothing.

"Garen's gone!" Flowers screamed. "I don't believe it! His summoner has saved him! He's been flashed out of the river and into the jungle!"

Where was he? Lux searched the screens, looking for him, before seeing that one of them had changed. Glorious blue and gold displayed against a green canopy as Garen emerged from the brush, bloody but alive.

Garen was alone, surrounded by trees, away from the river and safe from Sion. Lux felt as though she could finally breathe again.

Garen limped slowly, sheathing his sword, and then-

"It's Katarina!"

His back arched. A cry escaped his lips, and a curved blade cut through his chest.

Lux screamed.

The Palladium erupted in deafening cheers. All on their feet. Lux's panicked cries went unheard.

A flow of bright red hair surrounded Garen's face as Katarina rested her soft cheek on his neck. Her hand wrenched the blade through his back a little more, causing his body to shake. Her green eyes watched Garen's as her other arm reached onto his shoulder, pushing him down to the ground and off her blade. He lay, unmoving, on the blood-caked dirt.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Lux was being pushed through a sea of bodies, down a flight of stairs, through a dark corridor and into the night. Her face was pressed into Reginald's chest, his hand on the back of her head firmly. Her arms clutched at his shirt as they made their way through the streets of Noxus, away from the battle, away from death.


	2. The Sprig of Silver

Lux stood gleaming in the midst of a bright, shining hall of the College of Magic. All around her, Demacian scholars and laureates beamed down at her from the balconies. Behind her, her peers who had grown with her, struggled with her and challenged her held the moment with continued applause. In front of her, the Crownguard family also clapped from their reserved front-row seats.

Today she became a mage.

Banners of blue and gold hung from the walls of silver and stone, still and expressive. Here in this great hall a new generation of students entered into Demacian society as the soldiers of a great nation: a nation of prosperity and peace.

Lux rested her hands on the podium, ready to deliver her message to her class and to her country.

"To my fellow students and to the grateful citizens of Demacia that join us today, I express heartfelt love and honor that I have the opportunity to speak to you today."

Her eyes wandered above the crowd as the words passed through her mind, just as the spells had passed through her mind each night in the college libraries.

"Our country has stood strong through many trials against the threat of chaos and desolation for hundreds of years. Each new year brings new evils and trials, pressing down to undermine our way of life and the rule of just law. Our enemies wait in the darkness, intent to overthrow the good kingdom that has so earnestly fought and protected its people.

"But each time, each opportunity a strong Demacia has overcome. The people of this nation, strong in resolute devotion, have warded off the wolves of malcontent. The enemies of this country have not been victorious. Our brothers and sisters, in each generation, have stood together on the battlefield and in the courtroom and at the halls of political discourse.

"And now here we stand, the next generation of Demacians. Surely we will face the same trials and tribulations that our fathers and grandfathers did. Surely we will witness the same atrocities and machinations as our mothers and grandmothers.

"But we are prepared. We are prepared by the strength and the discipline of our teachers."

Lux caught the eyesight of her parents, who held each other's hands. Their faces were stern and unwavering as they watched her.

"We are prepared... by this college, a fruit of the labors of Demacia's military and of its noble king. We are ever thankful to you, beloved Demacia, for the opportunity we have been given.

"And now we ask for your determination and your strength. Each of us, strong together in our social bonds must now separate and serve our country in our own way. We ask for your continued support as the days will inevitably grow more laborious and more dangerous. Even when we find ourselves alone, we know that we will not be alone.

"I have myself, Luxanna Crownguard, chosen to be a bringer of light. The light I have become so familiar with is very dear to me. This is because, my friends, when I see the light, I see a city; a people. The shining hope in the darkness, I see Demacia."

Lux nodded in affirmation as the blood rushed into her fingers. They gripped the podium as she leaned forward.

"What darkness can stand against this great light? Will not this foe finally be overcome? I swear to you, Demacia, that this shall be our great and noble goal!"

Lux awoke. Her face was damp and the woven sheets about her smelled of dust. She turned over and was met with bright rays of sun peaking through a wooden, paneled window. She turned over on the bed, which creaked violently.

She was still dressed as she had the night before, boots, pants and all. She rubbed at her face, slowly remembering how she had come here...

Her mind was greeted by visions of darkness and the bones of the catacombs, which melted into the memory of the crowd and its disturbing cheers.

Lux sat up, remembering Reginald's voice, echoing multiple times that Garen was not dead. She knew that. She'd read numerous books about summoning magic, and how the Institute's shadow magic was all for show. But seeing him die on screen, in every apparent physical respect, had overwhelmed her.

She bit at the tips of her fingers, reliving the moment when the light had disappeared from her brother's eyes, hearing his cry of agony as seemingly every observer cheered for his suffering and sudden demise. The sound of it made her shudder. She struggled to get out of her mind the way the red-haired woman had plunged the knife through him.

She was overcome again. Lux hated crying. It made her feel weak.

Stop it, she told herself. Enough.

She inhaled sharply through her nostrils and closed her eyes, shuffling across the bed to peak out of the window. Squinting through the blinds she could see the roof-littered horizon of Noxus and a cobblestone street beneath her window.

How long would she have to live here in Noxus? This was her mission, and she had fought hard to get here. But it was a more frightening place than she had imagined. Beneath that cobblestone she could picture the bones... Last night she nearly joined them.

"Going to the Palladium was a mistake," she sighed.

"You can say that again."

"Reg–" Lux stammered, turning and rising quickly to her feet, wiping at her face with her palm. Reginald was leaning against the wall by the door, arms crossed.

"It's alright, he said. "It was my fault."

He walked near the window and sat down in a wooden chair. He automatically leaned over to glance out the window as he turned to Lux.

"We should have left immediately, the moment I realized you were emotionally compromised by being there."

"I'm so, so sorry," Lux apologized. "It was completely unprofessional of me. I... I gave you a hard time."

Reg smiled, scratching his curly brown hair. "Well, I suppose I might have deserved it. I didn't exactly go easy on you in the academy. We're safe now."

A brief feeling of relief allowed Lux to smile.

“I’d never been to a League game before," she admitted, sitting back down on the creaky bed.

“Never?” Reg's eyebrows shot up. “You, the Demacian cheerleader?”

Lux looked down. It was true. She had always been an outspoken patriot. Through sleepless nights she would pore over Demacian current events and politics almost as often as with her spell books. And maybe it was hypocritical for her to refrain from attending what were now the most significant events for her homeland, as all foreign conflicts were now settled with League games, but something about them had always disturbed her.

"Things were simpler," she explained, folding her arms around her knees. "When I was younger... soldiers would go and fight, and when they were victorious they'd return. Now... it's like death is everywhere. The war is here on those screens. I guess I didn't want to watch that..."

“It... must be hard,” said Reg. “Seeing your brother fight.”

Lux flinched. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck rise up a bit.

“ ‘A Demacian fights because he must’, that’s... what we were taught, Reg,” Lux muttered, turning her head to the sunlit window above her bed. “My brother is a soldier...”

She locked her eyes on him finally.

“And so am I.”

Reginald sat down next to her on the bed and put his arm on her shoulder. He nodded. “Better than any of us were.”

Even though she was only sixteen, Reg had always treated her like an equal. Maybe he went a little easy on her, but he never talked down to her. She was extremely glad that he was her partner on this mission.

She looked down again and sighed. “I’m glad you were there... at the arena. I would be dead already.”

Reg lowered his head so that his eyes were level with hers.

“You ready?”

Lux could have used a hug, but she kept that to herself.

"Let's... Let's get to work."

Reg looked relieved. He wrapped his arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze. Lux tensed up, still really very overwhelmed, but returned the favor gladly. She stepped back and mouthed the words “thank you” before turning to take in her surroundings.

Reg picked up his book bag. "I guess I'd better show you around."

"OK!" Lux nodded, finally regaining her regular pep. "I'm ready."

Reginald led her out of the cramped wooden room and down into a tight, spiral staircase, boarded with wood. They emerged onto a dirt floor in a room with no lighting except that which came from the open street. Beads and an assortment of other trinkets hung from the ceiling, which was really just the underside of the floors above. Barrels and boxes were scattered around in what must have been a kind of display of goods. Dust clouds kicked up as they walked.

"Is this a shop?" Lux asked.

"It's a front. They've stocked it with mostly useless items. Any time Noxians show interest in anything, we typically get rid of whatever it is. This is all funded by the Security Brigade back in Demacia."

Lux glanced curiously at some of the items. Nothing looked magical or dangerous. She even recognized a few of them as trinkets from Demacian advertisements. She'd be surprised if anyone showed interest in this unlighted, dirty shop. She gazed out at the lighted street.

"When we get out there, call me by the name ‘Raz’. It's short for Razik Fidesh. I'm supposed to be a scholar from Kalamanda. That's my, uh, secret identity."

He smiled and showed her his identification, a pamphlet that indicated he was a foreigner, stamped with the approval of the Noxian High Command. His photo made him look much older.

Lux responded by playfully jumping into character. She furrowed her eyes, then raised an eyebrow, pulling up her sleeve with a smile. It exposed her right shoulder, revealing a black tattoo in the shape of a skull.

"Woah," Reg recoiled slightly. "A native-born Noxian. Seriously?"

Lux got in his face, speaking in a proud and slightly breathy voice.

"A _proud_ Noxian. Born in the gutter; parent-less; I've fought my entire life to become who I am today: a woman of the shadows, armed with the spells stolen from the mages I've slain. Those that live to talk of me know me only as the magical thief, Sinistra– feared by all that meet her!"

Reginald recoiled upwards, silently staring at her. Then his face ballooned and burst into laughter.

"Sinistra?"

He leaned on his knees, unable to hold back. Lux stared at him, horrified, then became indignant when he didn't stop..

"Reginald! I looked it up! It's a very common Noxian name!"

He tried to talk between gasping breaths, shaking his head. "You're right... You're so right."

"Well, stop it!"

"It's just... when you say it. I'm sorry." He coughed, straightening up. "I'm sorry."

Lux pushed him back and crossed her arms, perturbed.

"It's a great name..." he began. He grimaced, giggling slightly. "It's perfect. OK, sorry, that was the last one."

"I take it all back," Lux growled. "You're the last person I want to work with."

"Come along, _Sinistra_ ," Reg put his arm around her, leading her out from under the shop. The arm was immediately shrugged off.

They emerged into a kind of mercantile district. A large assortment of shops lined the cobblestone streets. They were greeted by a Noxian merchant on the other side of the street. She seemed cheerful and friendly, not nearly what Lux pictured when she thought of Noxians.

"Good morning, Raz," she greeted. "Up later than usual? Oh..."

She noticed Lux and smiled knowingly.

"It is a good morning," she added.

"Morning, Blanche," Reg replied, raising his hand quickly. He was already on his guard, more like his tense manner last night. Lux had to admit that he seemed to be a pretty good actor. "Bartok around?"

"Eh..." she looked up and down the street. "Codger tends to dodge, doesn't he? He's a lazy one. Don't even know how he stays in business."

"My rent money, I expect," Reg laughed with a hint of nervousness. He idly browsed her wares as Lux sidled shyly behind him. "I suppose I'm getting robbed, huh?"

"Hello, deary," the shopkeeper smiled at Lux. "Enjoy the game?"

"Uh... Yeah..." Lux dodged. "We... won?"

The woman blinked and looked at Reg, who mimed throwing back an imaginary drink.

"My, it must have been quite a night for you two," she shook her head and giggled.

"We'd better be off, Blanche," Reginald pushed Lux along quickly. "Good morning."

"I'll give Bartok a hard time when I see him," she called after them.

Reg glanced at Lux and made a face like they'd dodged a bullet.

"Sorry," Lux apologized, putting her hand on her head.

"The Noxians were up late last night celebrating their victory," he explained in a markedly more distant voice. "From what I gathered, the match was a bit of a landslide..."

"Let's... not talk about it," Lux bristled, not wanting to think about the game. She looked up at the mostly cloudy sky.

The city of Noxus wasn't nearly as intimidating in the daylight. In contrast to the raucous crowds of that evening, the citizens could be seen going about their business, handling ordinary day-to-day tasks.

"A lot of those people last night were soldiers. Noxus has, as you know, a massive military. Most of the people we saw last night were in the city just for that night, as League matches are typically holidays."

He kept bringing up the League.

"Tell me more about the library we're robbing."

"We'll get to that," Reg said, waving his hand dismissively. His tone had changed, markedly more formal. There were more Noxians on the streets here. "We're a bit behind schedule, so let's get a move on."

Lux noticed Reg occasionally looking at her shoulder where the Noxian brand was hidden underneath.

The Noxian streets began to become more lively and more crowded. There was less sunlight and more shadows as the buildings grew taller and closer together. She began to notice the children idling on the streets. She wondered where they went to school. Some were playing; some were fighting. Lux took the most notice of the ones that were just sitting, staring at the passers-by as if they were looking for someone. A girl with matted red hair locked eyes with Lux. Lux's eyes quickly moved to the road. When she looked back, the girl was still staring.

"Where are we going, Reg?" Lux finally demanded.

"Razik."

"Where?"

"That's my name," Reg glanced at her. They were barely making eye contact now.

Lux frowned at him, confused for a moment, then realized her mistake.

"Razik," she repeated. "Alright, Razik. Where are we going, you dirty foreigner?"

Lux felt proud of herself for getting into character, but she was shocked by Reg's reaction.

'Razik' immediately spun around and grabbed Lux by the hem of her cloak. He stared at her angrily then began to look around him. He whispered to her in a very unfamiliar voice.

"You want to set the ground rules? I don't like you. You don't like me. The only reason you're staying at my place is that you've got a knife in my back. If anyone ever asks if you know me, your answer is this: 'I know what his blood looks like, and I know where his family lives.' "

Any comfort or relief she had forced into herself earlier dissipated immediately. Her closest friend in Noxus had now transformed into a foreign, untrustworthy actor. She was so shocked, she couldn't think of any way to respond. She could feel her eyes bracing before an unexpected wave of anger fell over her.

She pushed against Razik's chest sharply, knocking him backwards. No one around them seemed to notice or care about their commotion, but Lux found herself hyper-aware of them. The two of them stared aggressively at each other.

Lux now realized. They were both scared for their very lives. So this is what being a Noxian felt like?

Razik grabbed Lux firmly by the hand and led her further on. They came to a small alleyway, which they slipped into in silence. They hadn't shared another word until he knocked on the wooden door at the bottom of a short series of stone steps.

"Don't explain yourself," he said, looking at her through his false eyes. "Don't break character."

Lux wondered why. She knew where they were now, this must be the headquarters of the Sprig of Silver: the heart of the Demacian spy network. What did they have to fear from revealing themselves?

Razik recognized what she was thinking. "You're not doing yourself any favors breaking character, and you can't ever know if someone is really on your side. It's terrible, but you get used to it."

The door opened suddenly, revealing a large bearded face. The man's eyes were golden, like a field of wheat. His brow was bristled and his mouth seemed locked shut beneath a thick mustache, even as he spoke through the corners of his mouth.

"Who... Oh, it's you, Razik."

The man leaned out of the doorway, and Lux recognized him. It was the man who had greeted her at the Palladium gate. He glanced up the stairs and down the long alleyway farther on. There was no sign of anyone else.

"Get in."

They both stepped inside. There was nothing there except a small residency. A bed, an unlit fireplace, a table with food scraps on it...

"CAW!"

Lux jumped and looked up as they walked into the center of the room. A crow was sitting on the door sill, shifting its legs and glaring at them.

"CAW! CAW!"

"Simmer down," growled the bearded man, who was dressed, she saw, in a hemp robe with a rope around his waist. Whoever this man was, he was playing the part of an extremely poor man.

He pointed his thumb towards an empty bookshelf. Well, it was empty of books. But there were a few jars of unknown objects...

Razik leaned his back against the stone wall and appeared to slide behind the bookshelf.

Puzzled, Lux stepped forward and rubbed the wall, glancing behind the bookshelf, seeing nothing. She looked back at the robed man, who gestured for her to do the same. She did, turning around and leaning back. She felt herself melt into what she had thought was hard stone. Her companion encouraged her by nodding his head, chuckling. She sidled to her left behind the bookshelf and, turning around again, discovered a small torchlit stairwell. Razik was already gone.

Lux held her hand against the curved wall and descended the staircase. The stone below echoed with muffled, ghostly voices.

She came to a wooden door. Behind it, she assumed, was her future family. Gone was the Security Brigade, the Academy, the College of Magic, her family mansion. She was to herself the same as her brother, a hand of Demacia. She was a part of something bigger than herself.

She opened the door. Five faces met her.

They all stood in different corners of the room, having apparently paused their talking. An elderly man stood up from a chair near the end of the room. Behind him was a large map of Noxus. He wore what Lux recognized as a mage's robe, the same worn by those that at the Witherwood Arcane College, Noxus' foremost school of magic. His hair was white, and he had a thin, relaxed face with a trim goatee.

"You must be our spell thief," the man acknowledged with a welcoming voice. "What's your name again?"

"Sinistra," Lux answered, much less confidently than the last time she'd mentioned it.

"Very well. Welcome, Sinistra. We're glad that you have arrived safely. Have a seat."

The mage motioned to a small table on the left, currently occupied by a grim, hooded figure. She passed a larger, upturned table leaning against the wall by the door. A fireplace crackled to her right, beside which was another small table, occupied by Reginald (or Razik) and a man of similar age wearing Noxian armor. A sturdy bald man with beady eyes leaned against the wall in the far corner. It was an intimidating bunch, all adults, watching the young girl find her seat. Saying she felt out of place was an enormous understatement.

Her chair whined as it slid against the stone floor, and the hooded person turned his head towards her. The smirk she was greeted with appeared to be one of amusement.

She looked around at the spies, who turned to the old mage.

"My name is Tanis," the mage introduced himself. "I have been with the Sprig pretty much since the Rune Wars. I suppose it's appropriate for everyone to introduce themselves. Not everyone is here, of course. You already know Razik. Now..."

He looked around waiting for someone to speak up. The men shuffled awkwardly, glancing at Lux. Reginald finally stood up after elbowing his companion.

"This shy jerk is Redman," he said simply, giving the armored man a stern glare. "Apparently he never learned how to speak to women."

At this the armored man finally stood up, pushing the satisfied Razik back into his seat. This face was rounder and his blonde hair was straight, peaking out from under his helmet over his eyes.

"Enough of that!" he grimaced. "I'm in charge of military intelligence. I've got four good men inside the Noxian barracks."

"Thank you, Redman," Tanis nodded his head with a very slight smile. "We'll discuss your intelligence later."

Razik smirked. Redman frowned and sat.

"Ayer?" Tanis encouraged.

The hooded man beside Lux didn't move. His head was lowered so that his eyes remained hidden.

"He's fallen asleep," Redman joked. "Or maybe he's shy?"

The man appeared unfazed, producing and lighting a cigarette in response.

"Hi," he said.

"I'm Rusty," waved the bald man in the corner, suddenly friendly, before returning awkwardly to silence.

"Rusty is a prison guard at the High Command," Tanis explained. "He's the first person we contact if one of us go missing."

"Does that... happen often?" Lux asked.

"All the time," Ayer replied without looking.

"We expect great things from you, Sinistra," Tanis concluded. "Now, let's talk about last night. Obviously, Sinistra made it to us safely. How are the new recruits, Redman?"

The soldier stood up again. Razik had put his feet up on the table, which Redman pushed off unceremoniously.

"Can we please remain professional," Tanis sighed. "I know you two are old friends."

"Sorry," Redman apologized. His Noxian armor was black iron, with thickly forged shoulder plates and a bright red cloak. His gauntlets clamored against the small of his back as he spoke. "The recruits seem a little green. I'm hesitant to share too much information with them. To be honest, I wouldn't have drafted them myself."

"We aren't exactly free to pick and choose who joins the Sprig," Tanis explained. "No one volunteers for this job... Save for Sinistra, as I understand it."

"You volunteered?" Rusty gaped.

Ayer exhaled through his nose. Lux stared at the woodgrain of her table.

"We're more than happy to have another mage," Tanis continued. "I'm looking forward to the results of your mission, Sinistra. Now, Redman, about last night."

"The barracks were well empty the whole time the match was on," he replied, producing a folder. "We did our best to take advantage of this without arousing suspicion. But aside from training exercises for the next month, nothing to report."

"Any orders from the High Command?" the mage replied, grabbing the paper and poring over it.

"No, sir. None of my contacts have made any such penetrations... yet."

"Redman," the mage replied coarsely, closing the folder. "We are paying good money to get your men inside the Noxian military. We don't need information on training exercises, we need to know where their armies are. Last night was the perfect opportunity to break new ground."

"We haven't gained ground because we don't have a direct connection with anyone in High Command."

"Well, dammit," the mage's frail voice rose. "Make some friends. I've got to have a report to Demacia by the end of the month."

"My apologies, Tanis," Redman. "I'm doing the best I can."

"Very well, very well," sighed Tanis, scratching his white goatee. "What about you, Ayer?"

Lux's quiet companion spoke, standing up from the table. His cloak fell around him, rather large and long. A white cravat stuck out from a buttoned vest. A few streams of white hair fell out of the hood. At his belt was the sheath of a long rapier. His voice hissed with indifference.

"I made my usual rounds, roughed up my regulars a bit. Seems there's going to be a big, happy celebration in honor of Noxus' decisive victory yesterday."

Tanis perked up. "Really? Will the battalion remain stationed then?"

Ayer shrugged. "Who's to say? Though I've got an opinion."

Tanis smiled, apparently eager for intelligence. "Well, let's hear it."

Ayer sat back down next to Lux. This time she got a good look at his face. He had pale skin with thin brown eyes. A noticeable X-shaped scar covered his right cheek. He made eye contact with her before he spoke again.

"I suspect the current battalions will stay. And my suspicion is that General Du Couteau is coming Noxus, so too his armies. Ever since the formation of the League of Legends, his popularity with the public has sunk. He'll want a piece of this publicity."

"That's nothing confirmed, I'm afraid," replied Tanis, shaking his head in disappointment. "I can't send speculation to our higher-ups in Demacia."

Ayer leaned forward. "Count on it, and count on his daughter Katarina showing up, too."

Lux's ears burned. Katarina Du Couteau? She was the woman who stuck a dagger through her brother last night...

"Everyone knows how popular she is in Noxus," Ayer continued. "Unlike her father..."

"Katarina is a public figure."

"She's a soldier," insisted Ayer. "Mark my words, Tanis, she's going to be a general someday."

"Well..." Tanis muttered under his breath. He seemed to not have a good opinion of that woman. Lux didn't know much about her, but she'd seen the headlines. Katarina was portrayed as a poster girl for the League, full of bloodlust against Demacia and completely devoid of ethics. There was nothing to like about her, in Lux's opinion.

"Razik," Tanis turned his attention to Reginald, who was taking notes in the opposite corner. "Are preparations ready for our spell thief?"

Reginald stood up at apt attention.

"Everything is ready at Blacktorch Library. I'll fill her in on the details.

"Very good," said Tanis. "Sinistra?"

She stood up, unwittingly bumping the table in front of her. Ayer looked up at her.

"I've been told that you have a fantastic ability, to learn spells and replicate them easily."

"Y-yes," Lux affirmed. "I've had that gift ever since I was a child."

The room chuckled. Lux looked down at the floor again.

"Good, good," said Tanis. "You are a valuable asset for Demacia, and we don't want anything to happen to you and your talent. So I encourage you to practice extreme caution both in the library and around the city. I'm sure you understand that none of the names we use in this room are our real names. It is vitally important that you do your duty to Demacia and exercise steadfastness. You are not to reveal your true identity to anyone, even if they are an ally."

"Understood," Lux replied, saluting Tanis automatically.

"Now, enough of that," said Tanis, waving off her show of respect. "I read your report. You claim to be a native-born Noxian who grew up on the streets. You won't see anyone like that saluting anybody. This is what I mean. Stick to your story."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Well, call me 'sir' if you want. Just remember who you claim to be and what that means for the way you act around people. I assure you that there will be times that it will be very difficult to maintain the facade."

"Yes, s-... Yes. Whatever."

The room erupted in laughter. Lux was embarrassed even more, but maybe they were warming up to her. Tanis continued.

"Now, let's move on to-"

"CAW! CAW!"

The room fell silent.

It was that bird again, although fainter since it was coming from above them. There was a brief moment of silence when they heard someone coming down the stairs. The door opened, and the bearded man entered the room.

"What is it, Luther?"

"Just some busy-body knocking on doors. Just thought I'd put yer minds at ease."

"Very thoughtful of you," said Tanis. "You can go..."

"Right."

"Actually..." Tanis stopped Luther's exit. "If you could escort Miss Sinistra upstairs, I'd like you to familiarize her with this part of the city while she's here."

Luther nodded, motioning towards Lux.

Without a word, Lux looked around the room at everyone before following Luther back up the stairs and through the secret entrance.

"Nice to meet you, Sinistra," Rusty said quietly. Lux waved back, too intimidated to smile.

They ascended the stares and returned to the front room. Out the window, it seemed even gloomier outside than before.

"So..." said Luther, grabbing a set of keys from a hook next to the door. "You came in on the boats?"

"That's right," said Lux, crossing her arms. "They hid me on a trade ship."

"Mm," he nodded, glancing around the mostly empty room. "Well, y'seen all there is to see here. Let's go outside."

"CAW!" said the door crow.

"Mind the place, Samantha," Luther said to the crow and locked the door behind him.

The man was nearly twice Lux's size and more than twice as broad. He walked ahead of her, farther down the alley away from the road her and Reg had come on.

"This is a simple alley between the two major roads." Luther explained. If you go north, you'll come to the main road back to the Merchant District. That's called Broken Bridge. If you go south, you'll come to Tavern Row. The name speaks for itself really."

"Are we going there?"

"Sure," said Luther. "You've got a place to stay yet?"

Lux thought about this. She didn't know if Reginald had intended for her to stay at the store long term.

"I... I don't think it makes sense for a native Noxian to be staying at a tavern."

"So you've got a place set up, then?"

"Yes."

Luther looked up at the cloudy sky and grimaced.

"Well, let's have a look anyways. Best to get the full lay of the land before it rains."

They continued down the alley to Tavern Row. This road was a lot busier than Broken Bridge, with carts moving up and down it, horses being ridden through the streets, and a decent-sized flow of people.

"The merchant district isn't too far from the ports. You head down this street far enough, you'll come to a bridge that overlooks the eastern seaboard. Past that are the roads to the fish markets and the Palladium."

"That explains the smell," chuckled Lux, glad to have something to smile about.

"Yeh, you get used to it, I guess. Hehe."

Her smile faded as they passed by a couple of soldiers idling in front of one of the taverns.

"Hey there, cutie," one of them called. "Nice rags."

"You'd look better without them," said the other. They both laughed, clanging their mugs together, until they're eyes met Luther's. They quickly shuffled back into the tavern with their drinks.

"Miserable lot, these soldiers," he said. "Don't know how they train 'em, but they got no courtesy, that's for sure."

Lux was starting to get agitated.

"They're certainly nothing like our soldiers back in-"

Luther stopped and grabbed her by the shoulder, looking into her eyes warily.

"Right... I mean, nothing like soldiers fit to serve the High Command."

They continued on, Luther occasionally glancing back at her.

I apparently can't do anything right, Lux jabbed at herself. She didn't feel prepared to be a spy. She was obviously too young to be a spy. And now she was being cat-called. Great job, Lux. Way to be inconspicuous.

"There," Luther said, pointing off into the distance. "The heartbeat of Noxus."

She looked up and gazed upon a sight she'd only seen in books. A small, black mountain crested the horizon in a shape like a gigantic skull, with homes and citadels littering its entire mass. It was the notorious home of the Noxian elite: the wealthy and the powerful. It was home to all of the generals of the Noxian High Command, the aristocrats and power-brokers, the educators and the students, and, most famously, the champions of the League of Legends.

"Blacktorch Library will be on the south side," Luther explained. "Near Witherwood, the college."

"It's enormous," marveled Lux.

"It represents everything Noxus stands for," said Luther, hands on his hips. "The powerful rise above the weak. Every Noxian who doesn't live there wishes they did."

"It's... not exactly picturesque."

Luther started to laugh, then coughed into his beard.

"Yeah, well, y'get used to it. Besides, power before beauty. That's the sentiment here."

Lux preferred it the other way around.

They returned to the Sprig of Silver. Samantha greeted them as they entered before fluttering onto Luther's shoulder as he sat down. He remained in the front room as Lux returned to the secret passage.

She caught Reg exiting through the meeting room door.

"Oh... Sinistra," he acknowledged. "Ready to go?"

Lux nodded. They were sticking together after all.

"Sinistra!" came Tanis's from behind him.

Lux ducked her head into the meeting room. In the meeting room below, all but Reginald and Tanis had gone. The fire was far more subdued now and the temperature of the room was chillier.

"I just wanted to say, good luck," the old man smiled. "I know you're very young for a mission like this. It was very brave of you to volunteer. I want to wish you the best of luck."

She smiled broadly. It was what she needed to hear. She had been beating herself up all day.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he whispered back, grinning whimsically.

She closed the door and looked at Reg. The look on his face betrayed a quiet remorse.

"It's true," he said, extending his hand. "I'm counting on you."

"I thought we were staying in character," Lux replied, taking his.

"I think Sinistra and Razik get along."

Without warning, he kissed her on the cheek. She felt her chest tighten and a much needed feeling of warmth melted over her.

Reg squeezed her hand and led the way back up the stairs.


	3. Blacktorch Library

Business was winding down on Broken Bridge, the road back to the shop. Reginald explained to Lux that they would be a couple of hours before their first mission. Inactive carts were covered in canvas sheets and shopkeepers could be seen wearily removing their wares from the street.

They returned to the shop facing a Noxian sunset. A polluted haze filled the sky with a gradient of warm colors. The smell of Noxus's merchant district was smoky from the active chimneys mixed with the scent of granite. Lux noticed that the streets were absent of plant life, except the occasional bush hidden behind window glass.

Lux and Reginald were greeted by a delicious smell emerging from their mercantile hideout. A cloud of steam passed over a tiny, elderly man sitting on a barrel in front of the shop while smoking a pipe. He was covered in fur and had a rodent-like nose and small eyes mostly covered by large, furry eyebrows. Muddy-brown streaks of fur lined his cheeks, and as he spoke, there was a slight rasp that hissed with the beginning of each sentence.

"Hello, Razik," the creature called out, holding his pipe. "Joining us for dinner? I see our new guest is out and about."

"Evening, Bartok," Reg replied, extending his hand to exchange a friendly shake. "Sinistra, this is Bartok. He's the owner of the shop."

"You're a yordle!" Lux exclaimed, taking his paw. It was very soft in her hand, with small prickly nails.

"I am," Bartok smiled a toothy grin, revealing a pair of large teeth.

Lux knew that Noxians were notoriously xenophobic. Their neighbors to the south, the yordlekind, had been mistreated and abused by them for generations. There were many yordles living in Demacia and other cities, but it was strange seeing one here.

"I didn't know there were any yordles in Noxus. You're allowed to live here?"

"Oh yes," the man squeaked. "Yordles are everywhere, even in Noxus. Although we are forbidden from certain areas of the city, like the political and educational districts on the mountain. They'll imprison you if you go there."

He smoked his pipe warily.

"But... Imprison you? It can't be against the law just to... be a yordle," Lux insisted.

"No, but disturbing the peace is a very common yordle crime, if you get my meaning. I don't mind saying that they don't pay us very well either, and if you act out of line they're likely to beat you."

"Beat you?" Lux exclaimed.

"Oh yes, you can't see the bruise under the fur, but I've got the leftovers of a shiner from last week. My cousin Lampwick spent a month in prison for sneezing on his supervisor!"

"That's inhumane!" she raised her voice, causing Bartok to jump a little.

"It's a living..." Bartok shrugged, chuckling a little wearily. His body language seemed to indicate that he'd rather change the conversation. "Well, aren't you both hungry?"

"Mmm... You know how I adore your wife's cooking," Reg replied, licking his upper lip.

"Let's tuck in, then," said Bartok.

The old yordle hopped off the barrel, dust kicking up under his small boots, and led them into the shop. He batted at a few of the hanging items that he passed.

As they left the road, Lux caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She glanced at a sewer drain next to her foot, thinking that she'd seen a pair of eyes, but all she saw was a black hole. Ever since she'd gotten to Noxus, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched wherever she went. She knew that she was probably being paranoid.

Bartok led them through a small door at the back of the shop, above which the fragrant steam escaped from a metal vent. Behind the door, the smell was revealed to be coming from a boiling stew. A bouncy figure hummed in front of a noisy fire with flames shooting dangerously from underneath the pot. The cook had a head of purple hair in curls as big as fists. Beside her, a trio of yordle children pounded on a wooden table much too small for humans to sit at.

"Muffy," Bartok announced as he sat down at the table. "Guests."

She turned, revealing a smooth, blue-skinned face flushed from over-exposure to steam and heat. She beamed at them with a wide grin.

"Hello, Mr. Fidesh... and hello, dearie!"

"Sinistra," Bartok added, about to light his pipe again.

"Not in the house!" Muffy warned, slapping his hand with a moist wooden spoon. The pipe dropped to the table and was immediately snatched up by one of the children, who engaged in a small tug-of-war with Bartok.

"Nice to meet you," said Lux, unsure of where to sit.

It was strange to her how yordle men had fur, yet yordle women had smooth skin. Two of the children had fur, which meant that they were boys. She knew this was normal for yordles, but it was still strange to her.

"Going to the library tonight, Razik?" asked Bartok, safely acquiring his pipe.

"Both of us, yes," Reg replied.

"Such a hard worker," he smiled with a knowing wink. "He just got a job there last month!"

"Imagine working in a library," said Muffy, returning to the pot. She dodged a stray flame deftly. "Is Sinistra your assistant?"

"She..." Reg shared a glance with Lux. "...Is interested in studying magic there."

"Oh," Muffy wiped her frilled sleeve on her sweaty brow, taking a break from the heat. "But I thought it was a restricted library..."

"Don't bother the boy with his work," Bartok growled, flicking the children's fingers away from his beard.

"You're kids are adorable," Lux marveled at them, always enraptured by children.

Muffy chuckled alarmedly as she was in the midst of tasting the stew. "Oh, hoho, not my children, dearie."

"Nephews and niece," Bartok corrected. "My young brother Maxwell works in the mines to the west, and his wife passed last year, bless her soul."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lux apologized. Bartok waved his hand dismissively.

"Most of them have all grown up and moved on. These are the last of fifteen children..."

"Sixteen, dear," Muffy corrected, brandishing a salt-shaker.

"Sixteen!" Lux said in astonishment. Reg snickered before accidentally bumping his head on the low ceiling.

"No. Let's see..." Bartok counted on her fingers. "Randall, Trillian, Benny, Darlene, Molly, Cecil, Chance, Darby, Russell, Sally, Sammy, Sidney..."

"Tobey, you forgot," Muffy added.

"Ah, yes," Bartok blinked. "Became a circus performer. These three scamps are Felix, Wally and Abby."

"Pleased to meet you," Abby, the smallest one, added politely as her brothers tussled.

"Ready!" Muffy called out, producing wooden bowls and setting them on the table.

Ready!" the children chimed happily, gigging madly at the response they got from 'Uncle Bartok', who growled at them playfully.

The stew was unlike anything Lux had eaten in Demacia, very earthy but satisfying. The dinner itself was rather frantic, eating at a small table with undersized chairs and three noisy children. The conversations involved numerous stories of cousins and parents and grandparents and great-grandparents. Yordle's seemed to have extremely large yet very closely connected families. The meal was a cheerful experience and a welcome escape from her concerns, and afterwards Bartok played a few yordle songs on the fiddle.

After dinner, Reg led her up another staircase opposite the one which led to her room. The one they entered revealed a room similar-looking to Lux's. This one was covered wall-to-wall in books and paper.

"Wow," said Lux, perusing the room. "I don't remember you being much of a bookworm."

"Yeah, well," Reg smiled. "It comes with the job. I'm supposed to be a kind of expert."

"Are you?" asked Lux. "You're good with libraries?"

"My father's a librarian," he explained. "So it comes pretty naturally, actually. I spent a lot of time with him when I was younger."

Lux was taken aback. She would never have known. Reg had always been such a sporty guy. Looking around the messy room, she paused at a leather belt with buttoned loops across it. It looked like a kind of utility belt.

"That's for you, for supplies," Reg explained. "Now, I've got to get to the library for my shift. I work from the evening until late at night. Let me give you everything you need..." He scurried around a bit, pushing aside paper and books. After a minute, he stopped and looked at her. "We don't have to start tonight, you know, if you need some time."

"I'm ready now," said Lux, her heart was actually racing. "I'm as ready as I can be." 

"It's a cakewalk," he said. "Here's the map I was showing the Sprig earlier." 

He laid it out on the table and pointed to a wall on the side of the library..

"You're going to approach the library from here, then wait at the safe house until an hour before midnight. At that time, I'll unlock the door here. Give me five minutes, just in case, before entering."

"OK."

"Now, this is where it gets dangerous. You know what a sight ward is, right?"

"Of course," she replied. Sight wards were a very common magical item. "It's a kind of magical eye that gives vision of what it sees to the person who placed it."

"Exactly. The warden places these all over the library, but I've discovered a path around them. Here is where they're located.

He pointed to a number of red dots in the library's interior.

"They're everywhere..." Lux thought out loud. "How will we see them? They're invisible to anyone but the one who places them."

"Normally, yes, but we'll have these."

He threw open a flap on his book bag from which emerged a pinkish light glow. He reached his hand in and produced what looked like a small eye that was emitting the light. It darted around warily in his hand.

"This is a special type of ward that provides true vision ," Reg explained. "It sees through any magical illusion: invisibility, transfiguration, illusion..."

"So it'll see the sight wards. Easy."

"Well... The thing is... The sight wards I'm not really concerned about."

Lux met Reg's eyes.

"What are you concerned about?"

"Blacktorch is protected by a number of spells. Most of them guard the front entrance, but there is one spell that roams the halls."

"What is it?"

"The warden calls him 'Ulyaoth'."

"Him?"

Reginald took a moment, as though attempting to picture the creature he was wanting to describe.

"It's a summoning spell of a creature. It's entirely invisible, so I don't actually know what it looks like... It can climb on the walls and has this really weird way of breathing. The librarian says it's harmless... to me anyway. But I'm not so sure I believe him. He gave me these vision wards as a precaution."

Lux put her hands flat on the map. "So, once we're inside the magically protected library, we have to avoid magical eyes while being hunted by an invisible, magical guard-thing?"

"Sounds about right..." Reg acknowledged reluctantly. "Like I said, if you want..."

"Let's do it!" Lux grinned.

––––––––––––––––

It turned out that Luther had been right about the rain.

The hood of Bartok's wagon was soaked and occasionally dripped on Lux's head. She was hidden in the back of it, bumping into the merchandise as wheels clambered over the cobblestone. The cart creaked weakly, like it was ready to fall apart. 

About halfway through the journey, the road slowly inclined, swirling around the mountain atop which Blacktorch Library was nestled in the education district. After nearly a half-hour of listening to the clopping of horse hooves, the cart finally stopped, and Reginald's voice whispered from the driver's seat.

"We're close. There's an alley to your left."

Lux listened to the sound of the rain. She tried to peak through the rips in the canvas, from which a chill wind whisped. This was where all of Noxus's privileged youth would come to live and learn until they're inevitable military service. Sinistra, Lux had decided, had managed to avoid being indoctrinated. Hopefully that story wouldn't end up biting her.

"Just a few blocks down it and you're there. Remember the plan, and don't forget the supplies I left you."

She picked up a bunched red scarf filled with supplies from the corner of the cart and moved to the rear. As Reg had said, there was an alley to her left. She took a quick look around.

Off-duty soldiers walked among the passersby. She retreated back into the cart, hoping they hadn't noticed her.

"It's a simple mission," she whispered to herself. The sound of busy Noxians passed mutedly by the cart. Now was the time to put away thoughts of self-doubt that scrambled from every corner of her mind, encouraging her not to leave the safety of the cart.

"You can do it," she heard Reginald say, as though he could read her thoughts. "Demacia is counting on you."

That was enough.

Lux pulled the hood over her head and jumped onto the wet pavement. Without a glance, she ducked into the alley, only afterwards checking behind her to see if she'd been followed.

It was so much easier to put herself in danger, she observed, knowing that it was for someone else. That was the Demacian creed: "Die to self." Lux very much doubted that a Noxian would or could say the same thing.

Stopping at a section of the alley that was safe from rainwater, she produced her supply bag and opened it. Inside she found that the utility belt and three cordials, inside which she recognized a silvery liquid. These must have been the instant smoke Reg had briefed her about. The bag also had the rolled up map of the city and the key to a safe house near the library that Tanis had secured for them.

Lux did her best to protect the map from the rain as she unrolled it. It clearly gave a layout of the entire mountain district, including shops, inns, taverns, residences and the various educational institutions, including the library. One of the highlighted residencies in the political district was marked 'Tanis', which she assumed meant that he lived there. Once she got her bearings, she decided to make her way towards the 'safe house', as indicated on the map and wait there for the appointed entry time at the library. She put on the utility belt under her green cloak and secured the cordials in the loops on the front.

The buildings here were several stories tall, lined very close together. Everything was starting to look more and more upper-class. The architecture was very different from Demacia, with spires jutting out of the rooftops. The windows were tall and slender where Demacian windows were typically wide and friendly.

She came to a road marked 'Candelabra St.', also present with off-duty soldiers. She could tell that they were soldiers by the metal clasps in the shape of a skull that held their cloaks, as well as their general armed appearance. Lux knew that this area was heavily occupied by officer residencies, but she hadn't imagined that so many soldiers would live here too. Perhaps she'd never really understood the full size of the Noxian army.

Candelabra St. was devoid of casual passersby, probably because the rain was starting to come down hard now. She was in danger of looking conspicuous, roaming the city listlessly. Lux had never been good with maps.

"Safe house... Where is it?" she grumbled, trying to remember the layout of the map in her mind. She was pretty sure this was the right way. She really wanted to stop and ask for directions, which was out of the question. All the Noxians she saw were navigating the rain head-down anyway.

She found herself passing the entrance of Blacktorch Library. It stood out among the buildings with its elaborately carven roof, framing a series of tall pillars. A wide stone staircase stretched out in front of the street, welcoming the citizens to enter. The falling rain glittered in front of its dark interior and danced down the steps. Around the side of the building she could see tall metal fences, behind which she would later intrude. She still had an hour to burn before her scheduled break-in, so she continued down the street towards the safe house (she hoped).

The rain suddenly started to come down hard. It was difficult to identify landmarks and road signs now.

Deciding to seek shelter from the rain, she dropped into the nearest tavern – Teller's Well. From outside, she could hear a large commotion, including the sound of music. Perhaps she could stay hidden in plain sight in a place like this until the rain passed. The venue looked inviting enough.

Inside she discovered a full house of Noxians, drinking and gambling to their hearts content. Not surprisingly, Lux spotted many soldiers, but they were clearly outnumbered by younger-looking Noxians: students!

She quickly slipped to the side of the room, finding an unoccupied table in the corner. A few of the tavern-dwellers looked at her, then returned to their drinks.

A roaring sound came up from one large table. "Bloody swords and broken heads!" a group of them yelled. Eight boys no older than Lux simultaneously reeled backwards, chugging their drinks at the same time. They kept it up until the whole of the drinks were gone, and when they'd finished, they all cheered for each other and immediately called for another round. One of them dropped onto the table, which prompted laughter.

Demacian students did not drink alcohol. It was totally forbidden, so this scene came as a shock to her. Sure, she'd had wine while dining with her family. Maybe if she'd joined the Dauntless Vanguard like her brother or been stationed at a Demacian barracks, the squads might have come to a place like this... Well, surely not like this.

Lux spotted some of the girl students above her. Most of them were sitting on balconies along the upper floor. They looked dressed to kill with fashionable outfits and elaborate hair-do's. She hadn't expected a tavern to be so simultaneously uproarious and high-brow. It seemed very chaotic.

She picked at the ragged green cloak she had brought into the city with her, which was blotted with moisture spots from the rain. It had done a good job of keeping her hair dry, but she felt that she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was the worst dressed girl in the place.

"What'll it be?" shouted a snarky female voice over the crowd.

Lux turned to the waitress, who was impressively holding five emptied beer glasses in each hand.

"Uh..." Lux hesitated.

She listed off the drinks unceremoniously.

"We've got Hellspit, Naked Lady, Joker's Delight, Death-by-Ale, One Night Stand, Murder Drink & Ugly Helga." The girl glared at her, indicating she didn't have all day. She glanced at Lux's clothes. "You do have money right?"

"Of- of course I have money," Lux struggled to hear herself as she spoke. These drinks all sounded atrocious, so she picked the least repulsive sounding one. "I'll take Joker's Delight."

She produced a silver coin. The waitress shook her head.

"Slow down," she said. "You can pay once you're done. Take off your cloak and stay awhile."

The waitress left. Lux sheepishly took off the ugly cloak and utility belt. She couldn't imagine what she looked like compared to the well-dressed students here wearing a simple black shirt and brown pants... She wondered what they studied in Noxus. Maybe there were some mages here, like her.

She saw that she was starting to get attention from some of the tavern-dwellers. Maybe this hadn't been the best choice of hiding spot after all.

Like no time had passed, her drink arrived. From behind the waitress, a Noxian boy appeared and took a seat next to her. Lux tensed up at the sight of the skull clasp. It was a soldier, probably a year or two older than her.

"I've got this one, Tessa," he said to the waitress, who returned a harsh glance. He grabbed Tessa's backside with his hand as she left, causing the waitress to yelp and return a steely glance. A nearby table broke into laughter.

"Hobgoblin..." the waitress huffed, turning away.

The boy held a half-drunk beer in one hand next to his face. The other hand lay crossed in front of him on the table. He had reddish-brown eyes that looked slightly glazed over and bushy red hair. His face was freckled and covered with a silly grin.

"Hi there," he said, smiling.

Lux leaned back in her chair. "...Hi."

"Aren't you going to thank me for buying your drink?"

Think, Lux, her mind raced. I have to stay in character!

"I can afford my own drinks," Lux responded in the rudest way she could muster. "I don't need charity."

The boy raised his hand, leaning back nonchalantly. "I didn't mean any offense, beautiful. I just wanted to sit with you. I'm Brandon."

"I'm not looking for company," she responded.

"Aw, c'mon," he whined. "Give me a chance! You're the best looking girl in this bar. I had to come over here and talk to you."

Lux didn't believe it for a second. She didn't appreciate the way he'd treated the waitress either.

"You think I'd want to give you the time of day after the way you just treated her?"

"Who, Tessa? She's nothing to me. Aren't you going to drink your drink?"

Lux looked at the bubbling brew. It looked... potent. She had never had beer before. She lifted the glass and pulled it closer to her. She could hear the liquid quietly hiss.

"You may have noticed," Brandon continued. "But I am a soldier."

"I did notice," Lux responded, searching around the room for an escape route.

"I happen to be quite the fighter," Brandon continued, conspicuously glancing back a table of other soldiers.

"Look," said Lux. "I'm sure you're trying to impress your friends by hitting on me, but I'm really not interested."

"Was it something I said?" the soldier replied, unfazed. He shuffled closer to Lux, seeming to enjoy her resistance. Lux started to feel very uncomfortable. "At least have a drink with me. I did pay for it."

Lux let out a discontented sigh. She felt his leg touch hers. She recoiled immediately "Fine. As soon as I finish this drink, you'll leave?"

The boy nodded his head, furrowing his brow. "Sure, sure, that's fair." He raised his glass. "Cheers."

She began to drink immediately. It hadn't occurred to Lux that this had been a bad idea until a few seconds after she'd started throwing back the drink. The taste of it was bitter and surprisingly wheat-like. Her tongue started to burn as well as her throat. Her eyes watered as she pushed through it, trying to pretend like it was something less repulsive. Foam started to coat her lips as she gulped the last remnants of the glass before slamming the empty glass onto the table and, gasping for breath, pushing it away from her. The beer glass flopped onto it's side and rolled on the handle. The soldier stared at her, wide-eyed as Lux smiled at him victoriously.

"Wow," he responded, looking almost wary. "That's one of the strongest drinks in the bglshfvs...."

"What?" Lux responded dizzingly. Her hands suddenly went to the sides of the table.

"Absdf yufgn olfgaymr?"

The room was starting to spin. Oh, no, she thought. I've made a terrible, terrible mistake. She burped.

"I need water," she said to no one. She seemed to have lost her ability to hear properly. How strong was that drink? Everything was blurry, probably because of the tears in her eyes. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. She could feel the alcohol pulsing through her blood stream, and it seemed to go straight to her head. How large had that glass been? Who was touching her shoulder? She opened her eyes again. Her vision was still blurred and the voices and music were muffled.

She suddenly felt the need to escape, and she looked for a door.

Suddenly cold water splashed onto her face, followed by the distant sound of laughter. Every movement she made felt delayed and obstacles would appear where she didn't expect them. She was making progress to the door, with help. She was being escorted out of the tavern... by soldiers!

Something kicked in her brain, telling her that she was in danger. She had a sudden moment of clarity. Drops of water were beating down on her.

"Where do you live?" she finally heard someone say. It was much easier to hear without the noise of the bar, and the initial punch of the drink seemed to be wearing off.

"Come on, lads. Let's have her work it off at our place."

"What, and have us all kicked out of the army? Yeah, great idea, Vance."

Lux's eyes darted between them. She was walking with some difficulty, a firm arm under her shoulder. The cool air and glances of water felt hyper-real to her.

"I didn't even get a chance to kiss her, guys," said a more familiar voice.

"Did you even get her name?"

No response.

"You're a louse, Brandon. What did you let her drink Joker's for anyway?"

"How was I supposed to know she'd chug the damn thing?"

"Well, you said you'd leave once she'd drunk it. She must've thought you were uglier than a yordle."

The soldiers all laughed at this. Lux felt herself being propped up against a wall.

"Hey, gorgeous," said one. "I look a lot better than him, don't I?"

Lux looked around at them. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of them. She suddenly became very aware of her feet and concentrated on making sure she was keeping balance. She didn't like being against the wall.

"Can't talk... Wow, she's pretty hot."

"Have a look at her stuff, Jerry," someone said. "What's this?"

One of the soldiers held up her satchel and utility belt.

"I don't think this girl is a student. What is this stuff?"

"That's my stuff," Lux automatically replied with an unwanted giggle. "Shh, it's a secret."

The soldier holding her smiled. "There, you can talk! So you're conscious. How about a kiss, then?"

Lux's smile faded. She could feel something different than alcohol pulse through her now, something more familiar, something magical. As the soldier got closer, she began to regain focus.

"Say 'no'... if you don't want me to kiss you," Jeremy whispered, drawing closer. The other soldiers seemed to shuffle uncomfortably.

"Hey, Jerry! She's, uh... she's glowing!"

Suddenly, 'Jerry' was off his feet as a gust of wind blew all of them back. Lux reeled as she dropped from the wall to the ground, trying to steady herself. Without missing a beat, she stumbled for the satchel and utility belt. She briefly turned back to the soldier named Jeremy, who was unconscious, with the other soldiers lying in the wet street.

"No," she replied.

Her brain felt fuzzy, but she was able to move fine now... Mostly fine. It was all a bit foggy. As the soldiers attempted to recover from the knock-back, she conjured a ball of light above them that sparkled amidst the raindrops. Photons of changing color swirled throughout it. The soldiers all looked up at it, predictably.

"What's that?" one of them said, as it burst into a flash of light, blinding them all. Lux raced for the nearest alleyway, tripping a few times, without looking back.

"A mage! Where did she go? I can't see!" she heard in the distance. Running with a vague sense of direction, she stopped to catch her breath against a wall. She pushed her hair aside and pulled out the map awkwardly, the paper struggling to sit still between her fingers.

She'd ruined the mission, was her first thought. She'd been compromised, alerting her presence to local officers and, to her embarrassment, having become drunk. Heart pumping, she braced her eyes, trying to make sense of the location of the safe house. It had seemed so clear before, but the map just wasn't making any sense. 

Just thinking about quitting brought on a wave of intense disappointment in herself. She fought against the intense feelings of distress. Finding the safe house seemed impossible now. Her mind just didn't want to do the work.

As far as she could tell, she had no choice but to continue the mission.

Using her best sense of direction, she found herself beside the towering pillars alongside the rain-battered Blacktorch Library. Looking behind her, she saw no sign that she'd been followed, but she had heard the sound of distant voices as she'd navigated the alleys. The rain was coming down harder than ever now, and she was positively soaked. Lightning flashed over Noxus, followed by a crackling boom. In the brief flash of light, she could clearly see the details of the gargoyles that towered over the library, dripping with rain.

Her head was starting to ache, and her stomach didn't feel so great either. Stupid Lux, she thought. You've failed before this mission's even begun. But failure wasn't an option. She had to get off the streets.

Along the library was a painted-black, metal fence that she easily slipped through. Moving along it, she came to a door marked with an engraving which read "Delivery Entrance - Visitors Restricted". The door was, she was relieved to discover, barely ajar.

Without a second's thought, she stepped into a dimly-lit room, water dripping all over the tiled floor. She closed the door and collapsed against the wall inside, dropping to the ground. She felt mentally and physically deficient from the beer, in no condition to be stealthy or to read books. She rubbed at her face. What had she been thinking? What kind of spy drinks alcohol on their mission? Their first mission! And she had never even had beer before!

Honestly though, the beer wasn't bad, she thought briefly. In retrospect, she'd kind of liked it. 

She shook her head. That was the beer talking.

The mission had to continue. She encouraged herself groggily to her feet. Her limbs felt numb, and she felt perpetually off balance. She scanned the room for an object to focus on. Finding nothing but darkness, she looked at her feet.

Puddles were forming all around her. No evidence could be left of her entry, so she began to wave her hands over it, causing a small stream of water to emerge from the pool, sucking up the water. Another stream followed, pulling moisture from her clothing and hair. These streams converged into a ball of water, which grew in size until all of the water was concentrated in a single floating sphere. Lux took this ball of water, which hovered above her hand, and tossed it outside with the rain, landing in a splash. 

She closed the door, which snapped shut. The sound of the storm immediately quieted. 

"Neat trick," said a familiar voice.

Lux spun around to see Reginald holding a lit candle, his curly black hair hidden under the hood of a formal robe.

"Reg!" Lux cried out happily, wrapping her arms around him. His clothes smelled weird.

"Yes... but..." he seemed thrown off. "My name's Razik. You... Are you OK?"

Lux's eyes widened and she got off of him.

"Of course! I'm fine... Razik. Let's, uh, go steal stuff."

She started to wander off but stopped when she remembered that she had no idea where to go. Reginald sniffed and looked at her suspiciously. He whispered.

"Sinistra... are you... drunk?"

She smiled defensively, unable to maintain an expression.

"No... Yes... I think it's wearing off actually."

She bumped into a shelf she didn't know was there, knocking some empty delivery bags to the ground. She put her hands to her face.

"I'm sorry! I was in this bar, and this boy tried to talk me up. And he said he'd go away if I drank it. Oh... I'm a bad spy!"

Had it been any other Demacian soldier she was talking to, they might have agreed with her, but Reginald knew better.

"So you're a little tipsy... That just brings you down to our level."

"What?"

"I was worried you'd do so well on your first day that you'd make me look bad. Now I feel a little better knowing that you're human after all."

Lux smiled. "That's not funny."

"What wasn't funny was watching you walk circles around us in drills. You remember?"

"I didn't realize I was making you all look bad," she said, finally distracted from her self-pity.

"Don't worry about it," he said, lifting her up off the floor. Lux wondered how she'd gotten on the floor anyway. "Let's steal some stuff."

Relief melted over her. She was happier than ever to have him as her partner. He led the way with a candle as they made their way into the library.

Lux supposed she really wasn't as drunk as she'd originally suspected. Reg let her walk behind her without help and, for the most part, she wasn't bumping into things or tripping. But she found herself hyper-aware of everything.

They made their way through the supply rooms of the library, which exited into an empty hall. Through here they emerged into a gigantic library chamber, square-shaped, walls lined with books. Approaching a wooden banister in front of them, Lux observed a crystal-littered chandelier the size of Bartok's kitchen. Four stories down was a carpeted floor and halfway down a numbers of small bridges linking the balconies to a large island in the center of the chamber, which housed even more books. Lux stepped back from the banister and looked at Reg.

"Where to first?"

Reginald silently removed the magical eye from his book bag. Its pink light shown in front of them as he held it between his fingers. A number of translucent green spheres appeared all across the library.

"This is the main chamber of Noxian history," he explained. The magical archives are farther underground. Those spheres you see are all sight wards. You can't see the wards from here because they're so small. Everything that is green indicates the area of their vision."

Lux looked again. The spheres seemed to cover near every inch of the place, like a giant had dropped his marble collection.

"I was able to find a path through all of it," he said quietly. "Follow me."

Now that Lux saw Reginald in the robes, walking through the library, he really did seem in his element. She couldn't recall what he looked like in armor, holding a sword.

They shuffled quietly over carpet. Lux probably would have paid more attention to the content of the libraries they passed had she been of full mind, but right now her normally fast-paced brain had contented itself to the simple task of following Razik the librarian.

Coming to the wooden stairwell, they spied another green sphere, Lux thought she could see the small eye at its very center, resting on a wooden shelf, darting around. Reginald dropped to his knees and crawled easily under a corner of the sphere, which faded slightly as the palm holding the vision ward pressed on the ground.

Lux did the same, keeping focused on the boundary that, should she touch it, would immediately alert the library warden of their presence.

They proceeded like this for the next three floors, at one point having to cross the room through the island in the center. Looking down from one of the bridges, Lux could see a number of doors leading out from the bottom floor to other sections of the library. When they reached the lowest floor, he led her down a stone stairwell that met a locked gate.

"There's no sight wards down here," he reassured her, putting away the magical eye.

As Reg pulled out a key, he stopped, and his eyes seemed to look up, out of focus.

"What's wrong?" Lux asked.

"The lobby..." he said quietly, his eyes still looking strange. "Soldiers are outside the library."

He shook his head and looked at Lux nervously.

"I put a sight ward near the entrance. Lux... Why are there soldiers here?"

Lux shook her head as if she had no idea. Reg turned back up the stairs. His breath was quickening. He pressed the key into her hands. The metal was cold.

"I have to go. The warden needs to know where I am."

He pulled another vision ward out of his book bag and handed it to her. It shone in her hand.

"You go on ahead. This is the magical archive. Everything we're looking for is down here. Tanis said you'd know what to look for. Right?"

"Right," Lux said hesitantly. "Reg..."

"You'll be fine," he assured her, holding her shoulder. He gave her a smile before quickly racing back up the steps.

Lux turned to look through the bars at the seeming void in front of her. There was torchlight, but it was spread out, and the steps in front of her were faint. She opened the gate and descended the stairs with both hands touching the wall.

She raised the magical eye in front of her. It's light glow did little to help the darkness. It seemed weaker than the one Reginald had been carrying. Looking carefully at the eye confirmed this. It's pupil darted weakly and a noticeable crack ran across the front of it.

"Oh," Lux said in astonishment as she came to the bottom stone step.

The familiar scent of old paper hit her nose, and she was greeted by a marvelous sight.

Laid out across a floor of large stone slabs were rows of bristlewood bookshelves. The knotty boards were stuffed with chalky bindings that hummed with a surreal energy. The air around them warped with confused atomic energy as raw magic seeped out from some of the books. A seemingly endless amount of books, just as potent and timeless, were found here, in much larger numbers than Demacia possessed. This was the treasured vault of the Noxian spoils of the Rune Wars. The country had gone to war against every nation of magic, raiding their archives and murdering powerful wizards, even the ones who surrendered, in order to stuff the greedy coffers of the mages who yearned ever more for power. It was a forgotten prize of Noxus, hidden away in this library where few knew about them.

Lux couldn't help but smile mischievously. She had been right. She had fought for months to convince her superior officers that it was here, and she hadn't really known for sure that it was. But sleepless nights of research and studying had paid off. They were here. All of it was here beneath a simple building of academia.

Maybe the High Command underestimated the value of these records, and that's why things had been so easy. Lux had honestly expected something more substantial to be guarding this place...

A wave of hot breath fell over her, pushing her hair across her face. Lux stepped back quickly and raised the magical eye above her head, and she was greeted by a colorless mouth of teeth.


	4. Change of Plans

There are many reasons that people across Valoran drink alcohol. There are positive and negative effects that it can have on the mind. But an unexpected effect of the beer on Lux's mind was that she found herself staring in the jaws of possible death and yet felt no fear.

Luminosity, the magic of light that was one of Demacia's hidden secrets, flowed through her fingertips, traveling like stardust and hitting the open maw of the creature Reg had called 'Ulyaoth'. The jaws snapped closed and reared back, and now her magic eye could see the whole of it.

It had a salamander-like body with feathery claws. Its head was flat and U-shaped with lips that hid its teeth. Behind it, the tail ceaselessly flicked with a forked bristle at the end. It's skin was smooth.

Even though its mouth had snapped shut, beams of the Luminosity were spilling out through its lips. It squealed a sound that one might expect from a hawk, followed by a gurgling noise from its long throat. The light physically wrapped around its head, causing its beady, fish-like eyes to shut in defense.

It dropped from its hiding spot on the bookshelf, hitting the stone floor with a heavy thud and began to flail on its back in an attempt to get back on its feet. Its tail struck some of the bookshelves, causing magical libraries to spill onto the ground. Scrambling to its feet, it began clambering towards the open door behind her.

Lux quickly called a spell of wind that shut the door with a loud slam, just in time for Ulyaoth to collide with it and slip dazedly onto its back again. In an act that she would later attribute to the alcohol, she leapt onto the belly of the beast to reach for one of the items that had fallen to the floor from the bookshelves beside the door. The creature's innards gurgled against her ear and the smooth skin was slippery. The scroll she reached for slipped away as the creature regained its footing, throwing Lux violently to the floor. She rolled under it, causing her cloak to cover her face. Her hands found the scroll, but when she sat up, the creature had disappeared.

Lux shuffled backwards, knocking her shoulders against a bookshelf. The lanterns above her rocked back and forth, producing an inconsistent amount of light across the stone floor. She couldn't see it. Had it gone? 

A heavy blast of foul, hot wind hit her in the face, followed by a hiss. It wasn't gone. It was right in front of her, but she couldn't see it...

Her hands clenched. The eye! Ulyaoth was an invisible creature, and she had lost the vision ward!

Without a seconds delay, she threw a ball of Luminosity into the air above her. Its swirling light revealed a dark curtain across the ground in front of her-- the creature's shadow, and just beyond it, Lux spotted a small, familiar object lying facedown. The shadow hissed.

She got up and tried to dodge around the shadow, but it followed after her. In a snap, Lux felt her cloak choke her as it was caught up by the creature's jaws. She cried out as she abandoned it, and Ulyaoth snarled. Leaping for the ward, she held the scroll close to her chest, landing on her side. The eye, she discovered, was closed, as though broken, with a large crack across the front of it. In a panic, she smacked it with her palm, and the eye jolted open again, giving off its familiar light. Grasping the ward in her fingers and holding it over herself, she watched the creature appear and rear back as it became exposed again. She thought it might dislike being visible.

As Ulyaoth kept its head low to the ground, circling her with her cloak in its mouth, Lux broke the scroll's seal. The cracking noise this produced echoed across the chamber. Lux read the foreign words out loud.

Did Lux know ahead of time what the scroll would contain? It could have been anything, possibly even harmful to her.

A large rubber ball materialized in front of her. The scroll vanished in a scattering trail of paper. Lux blinked at it.

Ulyaoth, seeing this new object, dropped Lux's cloak and leapt on it. The ball bounced away with a rubbering 'twang', and the monster bounded after it with a playful chirp. Lux watched, dumb-founded, as it wrestled with its new toy. She couldn't help but laugh. She laughed so much that she had to sit down.

Reginald burst into the room and, seeing the monster, froze in confusion. Lux turned to him, her face turning red.

"It's OK," she said. "I don't think it's actually dangerous."

They both looked at Ulyaoth, now on its back tossing the ball up and down with its feet.

Reg still looked white. "I saw it, and I thought I'd have a heart attack. I thought it was mauling you."

"Oh, thanks," Lux crossed her arms. "So I look ball-shaped to you?"

He shook his head. "Of course not... Where did that ball come from?"

Lux glanced over her shoulder as she retrieved the books spread across the floor and moved them to a nearby table. Reading the scroll had gotten her fired up and ready to work.

"The scroll I grabbed was a summoning spell. I'd never used summoning magic before, but... apparently that scroll summoned whatever came to its reader's mind."

"And you thought of... a big rubber ball?"

Lux dropped a stack of books on the wood with a thud. Ulyaoth purred behind her.

"It just popped up, OK?"

He looked nervous, visibly shaken.

"Reg, was everything OK up there?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "No, frankly. They were looking for someone of your exact description, including your lack of sobriety, Lux. So now you're in danger of being recognized next time... If there is a next time."

Lux looked up from the book she was already pages into.

"You can't tell Tanis, Reg. Please. I already feel bad about it."

"I know."

"It was an accident."

"Yes, and accidents..." He leaned his chest on the table, cross-armed. "Can mean death, Lux."

"I know that!" she bristled.

"I don't know why someone as amazing and talented as you took this assignment, but I didn't get to choose where I was assigned. I've worked really hard over the last year and built good rapport with the warden. I put this whole plan together, and if I can push it through without a hitch, maybe they'll even send me back to Demacia."

Lux relaxed a little.

"So... You're not going to tell Tanis."

"No."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Lux felt automatically drawn back to the books.

"Why did they send you here, Reg?"

"I don't know. For being inadequate? Insubordinate? Funny-looking?"

"I don't think you're inadequate, Reg."

"Thanks."

"Maybe funny-looking."

"Thanks!"

They smiled at each other.

"You... want to know why I came here?" Lux asked.

Reginald glanced at her, then at the books.

"Please don't tell me it was for academics."

She laughed. It felt good to laugh.

"I mean, I love magic. I'm... a little obsessed with it, but I've wanted to come to Noxus for a few years now."

"Really? Why?"

Their conversation was interrupted by Ulyaoth bumping his head into Reg's side. It seemed to want to play fetch.

"Well, there's a lot of reasons," Lux continued. "Mainly, because I hate Noxus."

"Don't we all... But what do you mean?"

"I mean I hate the High Command, and the way it treats its people, and everyone. I mean, look at Bartok's family! They're treated like second-class citizens, and they're not alone. Someone has to stand up for these people!"

Reg put his hand on his cheek. "But what do you want to do about it? Change the entire country? It's a nation run by evil people, many evil people."

"Well, someone's got to do something," Lux grimaced. "And don't you ever feel, I don't know, trapped in Demacia?"

"No, I don't. I honestly can't wait to go back. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss the food... Mmm...."

Reg seemed to drift off somewhere for a moment.

Lux lowered her eyes to the table. She had hoped that Reg might have understood how she felt. Reg stood up.

"Listen, I'll let you get back to your work. This lizard is clearly harmless. I promise I won't tell Tanis about tonight. I'm thinking that next time I'll find a way to drop you off right at the safe house."

"That's probably a good idea," Lux agreed.

"I'm going to get unwanted attention taking that street to the stables, but it's worth it to keep you from being noticed."

"Sorry..." Lux frowned.

"Listen, dont' worry about it. I'm really glad that you're on my team. Demacia just seems a little bit closer with you around."

As Reg walked away, Lux's heart melted. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. She was really glad to be on his team too. She thought about saying this after he'd already left the room.

\--------------------

The rest of the night and through the following nights, Lux immersed herself in the forbidden spells of Noxus. She was only meant to steal the spells, but in reality she was learning them. Her unique ability to understand the nature of magic allowed her to absorb what she copied into her mind. Theory, composition, style, performance, these were mathematical elements that processed lightning fast in her mind. The magic was so unlike Demacian, which was beautiful and powerful but in some ways sterile. This magic was raw and unfiltered, often chaotic and possibly dangerous. Many of them were supposedly banned in the Rune Wars but had been hidden away in this library. Some of the spells were so powerful that she would find herself spontaneously laughing as she read them. 

Reg would occasionally step into the chamber and discover Lux surrounded by swirling colors of thick magic. Lux felt as though he was intimidated by her whenever she was working. When they were in the academy, he would often ask her to show off her spells, but he never asked her once to show him Noxian magic.

So at the end of a night's work, she had a small bag full of materials desired by Demacia, but her mind would be crawling with hundreds of spells waiting to be used. Many Tuesdays came and went with them supplying the spoils of their efforts to Tanis at the Sprig of Silver. But this next meeting would be different.

"CAW! CAW!"

"Hello, Samantha," Lux said to the door crow, brushing the dust off her cloak. She was getting tired of this ugly green one and had thought about replacing it.

"Where's Luther?" said Reg, shuffling in place around the tiny home, strangely empty. "He's always here."

"We'd better get downstairs," Lux decided. "Maybe we're missing something important."

They slid through the faux wall and approached the meeting room. As they came near the door, they could hear the sound of intense arguing.

Reg stepped forward and opened the door. Inside they found Tanis, Ayer, Luther, and two men Lux hadn't seen the last time. They were armed and dressed in foreign clothes, like those of the villages to the south of Noxus. They seemed to be interrogating Tanis.

"...our operation is incredibly delicate, and I must insist that-"

They stopped their discussion as Lux and Reg entered the room. She lowered her satchel of spellbooks and scrolls from her shoulder and held it in both hands.

"Sinistra... Razik..." Tanis entreated. "Please sit down, we'll begin shortly."

"What's happened?" Reg interjected. "Why are there escorts?"

The two armed men stared at them, waiting to resume their conversation with Tanis.

Lux's eyes widened. She recognized their weapons, similar those held by the decorative armor of the royal palace. The Dauntless Vanguard did not usually send its soldiers Noxus. They were strictly an elite sector of the Demacian Army. Why were they here?

The taller of the two guests walked up to Reginald.

"We are under orders to evacuate your team, as current events have compromised your mission."

"What?" Lux yelled.

"Evacuation?" Reginald asked. "Why? What's happened?"

Tanis looked overwhelmed. "Please sit down. There are a lot of things we must discuss."

Reg looked furious, walking passed the escort and right up to him. "Tanis, what happened?"

Tanis sighed, rubbing the back of his white hair. "Razik, I'm sorry. Redman is dead."

Reg didn't respond at first, staring in disquieting silence. After a few seconds, his head lowered.

"Dead?" asked Lux, finally speaking up from beside the door. She hadn't known Redman very long, but he had been good company at these meetings.

The second escort turned to her, acting very respectful. "His public execution occurred this morning, outside the barracks. He was hanged for treason along with three other officers. The execution was headed by General Du Couteau himself."

Lux looked at Ayer, who had been right all along about the general, sitting in the corner. His hood was pulled back this time, revealing stunning white hair that hung past his ears. His eyes were darting between the two escorts. He looked intense.

Tanis explained further. "His presence along with this execution reflects a high level of scrutiny. Redman was careful, as far as I could tell, to a fault, and yet his efforts did not escape the notice of the High Command."

Reg resigned to a chair by the fireplace.

"We believe, Sinistra, that the digging will continue. It may be inevitable that they trace Redman's activities to our location over time."

"But this is our chance, isn't it?" said Lux, still confused. "The General in Noxus after six months of travel? This is our opportunity to extract the information that Demacia needs."

Tanis's eyebrows raised. He stroked his goatee.

Lux put down the satchel and approached Tanis. "I don't understand this evacuation. It's not in the character of the Brigade to pull out when the heat rises. Shouldn't we-"

Ayer interrupted abruptly. "We are not 'pulling out'. These escorts are here for you."

"Me?"

Lux turned to Tanis in shock. Tanis, in turn, nodded. Reg shook himself out of his thoughts and stood up.

"You're removing us?" he growled.

"Just her," the escort clarified, indicated Lux. "Tanis negotiated for you to stay."

Lux's eyes flared up. She could feel her temperature rising. She was being rescued?

"We were given instruction to extract her specifically as a priority. The order came straight from..."

The other escort hit him in the shoulder.

"Um... From..."

"Am I not a soldier?" Lux interjected. "Am I... any different from anyone else in this room?"

She started to spin around, her gaze landed on the escort.

"It was my father, wasn't it? He never wanted me to come here!"

"Sinistra," Tanis interjected. "I remind you to refrain from any mention of your-"

"I'm not going," Lux said, ignoring Tanis. "And you can tell the recipient of your 'instruction', that I am a Demacian soldier, just like everyone else in this room. I'll leave either when my mission is complete or when my performance has been deemed deficient by my superiors."

Her hood was off, her hair and eyes blazing. Tanis seemed to marvel at her. Reg stood silently, looking at her with a disturbing gaze. Ayer spoke up.

"We need her," he said, quietly, yet drawing the attention of everyone present. "Redman was our only connection with the barracks. We don't know how long General Du Couteau will be in Noxus, and we don't yet know the reason for his coming. And we want to diminish our numbers even further? Why don't you and your spies all leave Noxus and I then?"

The room stood silent, save the crackling of the fireplace. Lux looked at Ayer, who stood arms folded. Was he a Noxian? She had never asked about him. Tanis muttered in contemplation.

"Nevertheless," he continued. "We are soldiers, and a soldier's duty includes following orders."

"I see no such orders," Lux responded quickly. "If Demacia is summoning me back..."

"The request is underway," the escort interjected. "You can be assured that, should you require proper documentation, you will have it in a few short days. I must implore you, miss, that time is of the essence."

Lux's eyes darted back and forth, on the back foot.

"We'll wait then," she said resignedly.

"Sinistra..."

It was Reginald. He stepped towards Lux. He was looking at her in a way he hadn't before. She shook her head in disbelief. If one person would have been on her side, she thought it would have been him. He searched her eyes futilely before turning back to Tanis.

"Do they know anything about the Sprig?" he asked.

"Not that we know of," Tanis sighed. "But nothing is certain when our spies are captured. Who knows what information they may have revealed?"

As Reg turned back to Lux, she flinched.

"I'm waiting. I'm not leaving my post... My team... Without proper justification!"

The two escorts exchanged glances.

"Very well," the leader responded. "We must leave for our rendezvous."

They passed Lux with looks of disagreement and indignation. Luther followed them out, leaving the four of them alone.

Reginald watched them go, then glanced at Lux, who refused eye contact. He returned to his seat by the fireplace. The room waited in anticipation for someone to speak. Lux stood helplessly, waiting for someone present to offer salvation.

Ayer got up with an unceremonious cough, wrapping himself in his cloak, and walked up to Lux.

"Meet me," he whispered, holding her arm. "...at the Tavern Street bridge tonight."

Reg glanced up at them. Ayer left for the door.

"I'll see what information I can salvage from this tragedy," he said over his shoulder to Tanis.

Tanis looked up. "I had hoped... Will you seek out the general?"

Ayer paused and turned around. "The general?"

The pale man laughed genuinely, his silver hair falling across his face. He shook his head.

"Only a fool would risk a confrontation with Talon."

With a grim expression, Ayer left the three of them alone in the room. Tanis, clearly exhausted from the ordeal, sat down by the map, rubbing his temple.

"Where is he going?" asked Lux.

"Ayer? We don't really know much about how he goes about his work," Tanis explained after Ayer's footfalls grew faint, cleaning his glasses with the hem of his shirt. "But he's damn effective at what he does."

"He's not a Demacian, is he?" asked Lux, not resigning herself to a seat.

"Ayer..." Tanis began hesitantly. "Ayer came to us many years ago as a fugitive. He does not operate under an alias, and yes, he is a Noxian. I would rather not volunteer any information beyond that without his permission. He has done much to earn Demacia's trust over the years. The intelligence he's provided us with has been vital. But he does tend to thrive in isolation..."

Tanis affixed his glasses and shook his head.

"I have to say, Sinistra, that it would have been wiser for you to leave now rather than later."

He rose his hand to hold Lux's response.

"I understand your reasoning, and I admire your courage and dedication to our cause. However, your assignment in the first place was a calculated risk. Your youth and inexperience was overlooked due to your immense talent and magical prowess but our expectation was for your mission to be low-risk. Given the circumstances, your safety is now our priority. You are precious to Demacia..."

"I understand," said Lux, wishing to argue.

"And I'm afraid that it is inevitable that you should have to leave us."

Lux swallowed, fists clenched.

"If there were..." she reasoned. "...something I could do, to encourage my further assignment. Maybe there's something you could do..."

Tanis lowered his eyes. "Sinistra, I hate to disappoint you, but at this time I hold the same opinion as those who seek your extraction."

Lux exhaled. It was, of course, pointless to argue then.

"Shall I..." she muttered. "...await further instruction?"

Tanis nodded, standing up. "Yes. Yes, I think that's best."

Lux left without another word, leaving the satchel of stolen spells on the ground. The cold stone staircase echoed her steps. She cursed the crow under her breath as it announced her exit from the place. She could use a drink right about now.

Dusk was falling. The streets of Noxus were practically empty, and its taverns were full. Lux had gone immediately to the stone bridge at the east-end of Tavern St. Gazing along the river, she watched it trail off into the harbor, where the ship that had brought her to Noxus was perhaps still docked. 

She had accomplished so little here and had no control over whether to stay or go. It had been like this her entire life, placed involuntarily on the paths, forced to ignore the alternate routes. She thought she had made a choice, coming here, but the path was already blocked. It wasn't really a choice. She stared at the waterways that wriggled towards the larger harbor.

"You're leaving then?"

Ayer stood behind her, lit by moonlight, his cloak waving in the sea breeze, partially obscuring his lower-face.

"Not by my choice," Lux replied. "The whole thing, it's not..."

She sighed, resting her head on the stone railing. She would have said "it's not fair", but that only sounded more like a child.

"How much older is he? Your companion."

"Two years."

"Hmm."

"We were in school together."

"He wasn't called back. It must be difficult being a young woman in the military."

Lux shook her head, staring at the rushing water.

"Being me. That's the problem."

Ayer came up to the railing with her. She noticed he was looking at her hands. "So you're a Crownguard."

Lux looked up at him. No one could have told him. She was so shocked that she didn't respond.

He rested his hand on his sheath. The orange and red sunset framed his dark silhouette as he stared out at the harbor. "A noble family, prestigious... Why come to Noxus, when there is so much for you in Demacia?"

His words reminded her of her parents, who had urged her to forego this mission.

Lux rested her face in her sleeves. "This may sound silly, but ever since I was put in the military by my parents, I've had this feeling that I was meant to come to this city."

Ayer turned his head towards her. "Meant for what?"

Lux glanced at him. He was considerable older than her, but handsome. His face had a few small scars.

"I don't know," she mumbled, shuffling her feet. "Meant for something great, I guess... Maybe it's the people..."

Ayer said nothing at first. "Perhaps there is something here you cannot find in Demacia. You are a mage of light. You come to a place of darkness."

Lux turned her head. His eyes seemed to penetrate deep into her soul.

"You are looking for meaning."

Her eyes quivered slightly. She looked at her left palm and made a fist.

"Many people don't know this," she said, with a growing ferocity. "But light magic is very different from elemental magic."

She glanced at him. His dark, thin eyes held on her as she spoke. He had a very calm disposition, yet distant. Her voice, she noticed, sounded so... bright compared to his dark, melancholy demeanor.

"I believe–we aren't taught this–that the energy that controls the light comes from the soul. Most mages can't control light, because they want to master it, like it's something you can control. But you can't control it. It's something altogether different, something that is everywhere and everything. It's... a part of you."

Ayer looked at her open palm, then at her body. He was listening, seeming to comprehend.

"And you can... use it? Tanis gave me the impression that you are one of the best."

"It's... hard to explain. I cast the light... and I am the light."

Ayer stood in silence again. The only reply he finally gave was a thoughtful "hmm".

Lux adjusted her cloak as a cold breeze blew against them.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ayer stepped back and looked off the other side of the bridge. A small portion of the skull-shaped mountain was visible.

"Like anything in Noxus, if you want it, you have to wrest it from the hand. That's how I've made my little mark here. If you really intend to bring light to this city, you'll have to seek out the darkness."

Lux stared at him. "You... think I can stay?"

"Control," said Ayer. "That is an illusion."

He turned to the moon.

"How can you say that things are as they are? How can you determine what is real and what is illusion?"

"I... don't understand."

"You think that you have no control, yet you say that light cannot be controlled. A contradiction."

She silently pondered this.

"I think you can make a severe dent in Noxus's armor. Tanis sees it, but he's treating you like a child. The truth is that you're going to have to convince him yourself to think otherwise."

He turned his back slightly. "Your mission as it stands is over. Were you to become... preoccupied, it may give you the leverage you need to stay with us."

"You mean another mission?"

"A mission that would delay or deny extraction, yes."

Lux's spirits rose. Her eyes betrayed excitement.

"If you want respect..." said Ayer. "You must take it for yourself. No one got anywhere following orders."

Lux felt her military sensibilities start to disagree. "You sound like a Noxian."

"I am a Noxian."

Ayer turned and began to walk away.

"I have to work now."

"Wait... What should I do?" Lux asked him, helplessly.

The sun had set, and darkness was covering the city. Ayer stopped.

"Help me to uncover the general's plan."

He turned around. His silhouette began to meld with the coming fog.

"If you can do that, you're position in Noxus will become secure, but..."

His eyes narrowed.

"You must know the risks."

Lux felt invigorated as she always did when she was given the opportunity to put her life on the line. They had said the same thing to her when they granted her mission to Noxus. Though it was cold out, she felt warmed.

"My life, for Demacia," she replied, a soldier's reply.

Ayer turned away, white hair obscuring his expression, looking like anything but a soldier. "For the light?"

A fog began to sweep over the bridge as the spy faded into darkness. Lux held her cloak around her, her mind now racing.

To discover the general's plan: it was the kind of mission she'd said she wanted. How to do it?

She walked off the bridge, through darkness, traveling between the islands of streetlight that were scattered across Tavern Street. The dark alleyways that led back to Bartok's shop felt less unfriendly and more challenging. It was as though this was the moment she had been waiting for. She wasn't following orders, she was charting her own path.

She passed two men talking under a streetlight. They watched her silently as she passed.

If the general was in Noxus, it must be for political reasons. It would then follow that there would be others, close to him, with full knowledge of his intentions, here in Noxus as well. There was his family, a family of both nobility and swordsmanship. And who was this Talon that Ayer referred to? The implication was that he was very close to the general, but also dangerous. Maybe he was some kind of bodyguard.

No ideas came to mind before she reached the shop.

Maybe she should speak to Reginald.

The light was out in his window. Perhaps he was still at the Sprig of Silver, or on some new assignment. It didn't matter, she decided. Their mission was done for, long before it had begun...

Then something occurred to her.

The library was very close in proximity to where the Noxian generals lived... Maybe there she could find someone that was privy to the General Du Couteau's plans. No other spies had access to anywhere this close to the High Command. If she could return there, perhaps she could find someone with knowledge of the general's plans.

She retreated to her bedroom and, lighting a candle, began writing furiously everything that came to mind.

There was the barracks... No good. Soldiers wouldn't have the information she was after. The schools were another dead end. What about the residencies? She briefly imagined herself breaking into the general's home. The image was followed by a vision of her in a cell and on a guillotine. She couldn't just go around asking people if they knew the general. The waste basket was starting to fill up...

Suddenly, her door burst open. It was Reginald.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, looking out of breath and angry.

Lux rested her arm over her notes. "What do you mean?"

"I was scouring the city, trying to figure out where you'd gone!"

"I'm fine." She smiled defensively. Her blonde hair must have been disheveled. It felt that way when she brought her hand to her head. She stood up, trying to clean up the desk and hide her notes away.

"Well, you left!"

"What? I need to be escorted everywhere by you?" Lux responded, agitated. Why wouldn't he stop looking at her like that?

"You could have at least told me where you'd gone," he stammered. "I came upstairs, and you were gone. Naturally, I assumed you had come back here. When I found you weren't, I went out looking for you. Where were you?"

Lux continued to ignore his gaze, now making mental preparations for bed. "I don't need to tell you anything."

Reginald looked puzzled. "Are you... up to something? It's not like you to be secretive."

"Look, stop interrogating me," she raised her voice, finally looking at him. "We're not partners anymore, right? They're going to find someone else to replace me, right? Isn't that what you and Tanis got to talk about?"

Reg lowered his voice. "Look, I know you're upset..."

Lux stood up. "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Can you please leave?"

"I was worried something had happened to you."

"I'm really fine. You don't have to worry about me anymore."

"I'm not trying to be your babysitter!"

"Whatever. I just want to be alone right now."

"Luxanna... If you need help with something..."

"Please. Reginald. Go."

She was in his face. He seemed to be holding his breath.

"OK, goodnight."

He left. Lux flopped onto her bed. She was furious with him.

A few minutes passed. She flipped onto her back.

Reg was a straight arrow. He'd never let her get near the High Command. He wanted her sent home, she knew it. He wouldn't stop talking about her being safe. She didn't want to be safe! She needed information. 

She really wished that Ayer had told her what she needed to do.

"If you want respect, you'll have to take it for yourself."

That's what he'd said. Whatever she did to earn her keep in Noxus, she'd have to do it alone. She already felt alone.

She slept in her clothes with the candle still burning and dreamt of the dark plans of Noxians and of Ayer.


	5. The Sinister Blade

Lux stayed in her room that morning. The door knocked a couple of times but she didn't answer. Muffy came in later without knocking, holding a tray with breakfast. She hummed a few friendly words to which Lux, face buried in her pillow, didn't respond. She felt a soft hand on her hair. After the door shut, Lux sat up.

A Bandle City specialty, the fried eggs and mustard were picked at sparingly by Lux's fork. She found herself reading a book she had found in her desk titled "Spirit of Bilgewater". It was a non-fiction that explored the culture and events of intrigue aboard a pirated vessel. As most Noxian books went, Demacia was portrayed as a villain, imposing its will on the free-spirited adventurers that charted foreign waters. It didn't really hold her interest.

She stared at the strewn papers and crumpled balls in the waste basket: the results of last night's efforts.

She told herself that it was hopeless. She had only been in Noxus a few weeks and knew so little about the city. What could she do to keep the Demacian escorts from returning and dragging her back to Demacia?

She moaned, laying her head on the desk and nearly knocked her mostly empty juice glass onto the floor.

Her father had never wanted her to come to Noxus in the first place. His name was Marcus Crownguard; soldier, noble, esteemed member of the royal council... His contributions to the crown were numerous, so too her mother, Lilia. Lux looked a lot like her mother, the same blonde hair and, unfortunately, a similar rebellious temperament.

But they'd both invited military recruits into their home, the only place that Lux had felt safe. They came into her bedroom and talked about glory and an obligation to the crown. They talked about her brother Garen and all that he'd done for the country, how she could be just like him.

Lux clenched her fists, from which wild wisps of Noxian magic rose briefly.

What would Garen do in this situation? He would have left with the escorts, of course. Lux smiled weakly. Her fists unclenched. She hadn't wanted to go though. She wanted to stay and continue the work she'd only just begun. She felt ashamed of the way she'd acted last night. Maybe... this was for the best. Maybe Noxus was too dangerous for her. Maybe she'd gotten into enough trouble.

She got up and moved to the window. Noxian shoppers browsed the many fine goods. The scene was almost peaceful.

But an unfamiliar sound was coming down the street that caught everyone's attention. There was a commotion, and the shoppers below were now looking in its direction and chatting amongst themselves.

Lux leaned against the window frame to get a better look. From the edge of her view she could see a small entourage of people making their way through the city and at the head of it a familiar figure. The shoppers immediately abandoned their previous pursuits, clucking like hens, and huddled along the sides of the street to get a look at her as she passed, the object of their enthusiasm. There was no mistaking her blazing red hair, her seductive curves, her confident walk...

Katarina Du Couteau.

Without a second thought, Lux grabbed her green cloak and ran downstairs. Bartok was standing behind a line of tall men blocking the entrance to the shop. He barked at them futilely to let him through. Reginald was nowhere to be seen. Lux squeezed her way into the crowd, appearing in the street behind the entourage.

"Noxus victorious!"

"We love you, Katarina!"

The woman turned around, laughed and waved, blowing a kiss to one of the younger men in the crowd. But she said nothing, continuing her journey through the streets.

"Let me buy you a drink!"

"Tell us where you're going!"

This was a strange place to find a high-ranking Noxian officer. Lux did her best to stay inconspicuous as she followed far behind the crowd without losing sight of that startling red hair. She led them down to Tavern Street.

"She's even more beautiful in person."

"Marry me!"

The crowd stopped and quieted. They found themselves in front of a bar named 'Paul's Poison'.

As Katarina turned on her heel at the tavern steps and looked at the crowd, a short, bald man in an ornate mage's robe emerged to stand beside her. He rubbed a small handkerchief across his face and waved his arms.

"The High Command has your thanks and appreciates your support!" he called out to them in a lofty voice. "Forever strong!" he cheered.

"Forever strong!" yelled all present.

"At the behest of our generals, we'd like to offer the local merchants an opportunity to share a drink with none other than the hero of the League of Legends, the lovely Katarina!"

The crowd applauded enthusiastically.

"The first round's on me," Katarina finally spoke with a low and boisterous voice, whipping her hair back and resting a soft hand on her hip. With her other hand, she drew a blade, large and jagged in shape. "And I'll ask the 'gentlemen' here to keep their various appendages to themselves, unless they wouldn't miss something were I to cut it off."

The men chuckled and the few women present giggled.

"Drink to Noxus!" cried the bald mage, as Katarina stepped into the bar.

Lux reluctantly followed the cheering group in. She did her best to blend into the crowd and not stand out. The last thing she wanted was an incident like the last time she'd entered a bar.

Like the students she'd encountered at Teller's Well, these adults were loud and even rowdier. To her dismay, there were no small tables this time, and they quickly filled up around Katarina, who sat in the center of the room. Lux watched the woman carefully as she talked up the table around her. She laughed and joked with the merchants. Eventually, one of the braver men present must have gotten frisky because he ended up on the floor, to the entertainment of all present. It was odd seeing someone of such a high rank intermingling with the lower class. Lux guessed that there was some ulterior motive behind this event of generosity and mirth.

It wasn't long before the place became standing room only. Word must have gotten around that a hero was buying drinks. It became impossible to hear anything from Katarina's table. Lux nestled between one of the support beams and the bar counter, trying to remain inconspicuous. The barkeep eventually approached her, furiously struggling to order drinks for everyone. A younger man was assisting him behind the bar. Both were dressed in formerly white aprons and looked very stressed out.

"Drink, Miss?"

"Um..." said Lux. "There's..."

She hesitated to order the only drink she could remember the name to.

"Uh... surprise me."

She winked. It felt stupid.

The barkeep smiled at her, and she watched his eyes wander over her. Gross.

"This one's on me," he said, pouring her a drink. She watched him carefully with how he prepared it. "Call me Sam."

"Thank you... Sam." She retreated from the bar and let someone else order a drink. Standing in a corner next to a friendly plant, she kept her eyes on Katarina and the bald man that sat beside her. In a fleeting moment, she thought that he'd looked at her. Many men were glancing at her, nudging each other... Oh no.

The woman they called "The Sinister Blade" laughed loudly above the noisy crowd, knocking back a drink, seemingly oblivious to Lux's presence. Her beauty was marred by a very large and noticeable scar, a vertical cut across her left eye. It was common to see soldiers with scars, but the rich and powerful usually had access to cosmetic solutions that could remove such blemishes. The women in the League of Legends always seemed to have perfect skin...

It wasn't long until the inevitable occurred. The Noxian men around her started giving Lux unwanted attention, asking what drink she was drinking, where she was from, who she was with... She ignored them and at times asked them to leave her alone. Some of them complained. Some of them insisted.

Her eyes hovered over Katarina, sitting calmly at her table, unbeleaguered and entertained by the same men. The room had a respect for her and maybe a fear of her that Lux didn't receive.

"C'mon, cutie," said the umpteenth drunkard, this one at least ten years her elder. "Let me buy you another one of those..." This one grabbed her hip.

"I said 'no'!" Lux suddenly lashed out. A burst of light shot out of her hand, knocking the man off his feet. A good portion of the room turned their heads in reaction to the commotion. The bar quieted all at once as the drunken man struggled noisily to his feet.

"Gods, she a mage," he muttered under his breath, holding his back.

"Why don't you leave Barry alone?" yelled a companion of his, stepping up to her.

Lux's eyes darted back to the center of the room. Katarina's seat was now empty. The bald mage glowered at her. Lux's eyes looked over the room in panic.

"Is this girl bothering you gentlemen?" asked a voice that was low, strong and feminine.

Lux spun around. A slender and muscular body blocked her path. There she was, standing a few inches taller than her. Katarina looked directly into Lux's eyes. There was a fierceness and a strength there that Lux had never seen in a woman before, and she found herself struck with an unfamiliar fear.

"I'll put a blade in your belly for their amusement," she said under her breath with a smile. "Why don't you get lost, little girl?"

Lux shrunk back a few steps, bumping into a support beam. Her hood slid off her head, revealing her thin, blonde hair. Her aggressor stepped closer, the one who killed in the arena for Noxus's pleasure.

Lux's voice was faint, almost a whimper. "Wh- Why would you do that? I've done nothing to you..." 

Katarina got in her face, and Lux held her breath. The long, red hair draped around her in the same way it had enveloped her brother that night. The assassin's voice drew quiet as her chin lowered. 

"Because I can."

A dagger flashed from behind her back and was thrust towards Lux's head.

Lux felt a collection of her hair pull out of her scalp as she ducked. Her cloak tore against the impact as she scrambled away from her attacker. Looking back, she saw the dagger still gripped in Katarina's hand, sunk into the beam.

"Excuse me, boys," her attacker addressed the room, removing the blade unceremoniously from the wood and spinning it in her palm. She casually pursued Lux.

The bar filled with laughter and applause as Lux pushed chairs and onlookers out of her way. A few of them intentionally blocked her path. Small tears of terror had formed in the corners of her eyes. That attack would have been fatal. If she hadn't ducked, she'd have a dagger in her skull. Who would do that to someone, unprovoked? 

She burst through the door and onto the Noxian street, cold air striking her face. She searched for an escape route and rushed spontaneously for the closest alley.

As she was halfway across the street, Katarina appeared in the doorway of the bar. She stood there, showing no intention of continuing her pursuit. She watched Lux run with a frown.

But something made Lux stop running when she saw Katarina. She turned around and stood there, facing her from a distance. They stood unmoving, looking at each other for what must have been a minute, before nearby civilians began to notice their beloved League champion. Uninterested in conversation, Katarina gave Lux one last look before returning into the bar.

A sharp gasp escaped Lux's lungs. She rested her hands on her legs, which were shaking. Her temples pounded. She wasn't running. She found herself... wanting to go back in. Something inside Lux wanted to repay her for her vicious attack. She had her magic, her strength and fast-pumping blood. She could go back in...

No... She wasn't thinking clearly. This was her chance to help Ayer and the Sprig of Silver. This was her opportunity to prove to herself and everyone else that she could serve Demacia here in Noxus.

So she made up her mind to hide and wait for her.

Katarina worked under her father, the general. More than any other soldier, she would know the general's plan. Lux could follow her and report any information she found to Ayer. Ayer could make the case to Tanis for her to stay in Noxus, and then Tanis could advocate for her to continue her mission here...

She could hear Reg's voice in her head, telling her that what she was doing was crazy.

It wouldn't be the first time, she thought to herself with a smirk.

She pulled her torn hood back over her head and slipped into the alley behind her. She rested her hand on a discarded barrel and concealed herself in the shadows behind it, maintaining a clear view of the front entrance of the tavern.

It was not a bright day, as overcast clouds threatened inopportune rain. Lux felt confident that she was well-hidden, but her heart was pounding with adrenaline, even as time passed and people started to exit the tavern. As Katarina emerged Lux raised herself up on the balls of her feet, ready to follow after her again. She had never done anything like this before, and Katarina was one of the most dangerous people in...

A blade appeared at her neck.

"Don't move, child," said a deep, threatening voice. 

It was the voice of a man.

Lux almost cried out. She could feel a large hand on her left shoulder. 

"Quickly and quietly."

She was being stood up and backed into the alley, into its darker portions, until vision of the street was lost. Her head remained locked forward, pressed against the blade as she was marched backwards, but her eyes spun to see all they could. All she could perceive in the dark light were glimpses of the man's cloak, a strange cloak of many tails of leather, the ends of which held diamond-shaped blades.

The steel edge left her neck for only a moment. She was sharply spun around and slammed into a stone wall. The back of her head hit the wall and the blade returned, a gigantic blade longer than her arm, resting between her eyes. The arm of her attacker was strapped beneath the blade, fist clenched. His eyes were hidden beneath a violet cowl fringed with metal. His stone-faced expression was as deathly as the weapon he held.

"What business do you have with the Du Couteau's, urchin?"

His voice was scratchy and restless.

"I... I don't know what you mean!" Lux stammered quickly.

"No lies, girl!" he growled, pressing his arm against her shoulder, sending a wave of pain through her whole arm.

Lux had trained for this moment. She was back in the catacombs, surrounded by bones, remembering to forget, to forget her life.

"My name is Sinistra..."

"Another lie!" he said louder, lifting her up a foot against the wall. Her shoulder wailed in pain as her body weight partially hung from it.

"Please don't kill me! I was-"

"You were spying," he accused. "What business do you have with Katarina? Are you a Demacian?"

He looked her over. His upper lip curled.

"You look Demacian."

Lux's instincts took over. Her eyelids rose and her face contorted in surprised anger.

"I am a native-born Noxian! Death to anyone who says otherwise!"

Her voice became ferocious, as though instead of a lamb she had become a wolf backed into a corner.

"Put me down!" she demanded, now thrashing.

The man's face finally stirred into something that must have been amusement.

"You find yourself..." squeezing his grip and rotating the blade. "In no position to be making such demands of me."

"Put her down, Talon," said a female voice.

Katarina emerged from the shadows as Talon immediately complied, and Lux fell to the ground. She massaged her right shoulder and tried to stand. Katarina stepped in front of her.

"Stay down," she suggested harshly.

"Boaz informed me that there was an incident. Was it her?" asked Talon, still examining Lux critically.

"She made a bit of a scene," Katarina turned her head sideways. "I thought I taught her a lesson."

She squatted down to Lux's level.

"I let you live, Sinistra, but you're so determined to die. Dumb kid."

"I'll take her back to the barracks. I'd like to interrogate her further."

Katarina stood back up, chuckling. "Why?"

"She claims she's a Noxian. I suspect she's a Demacian spy."

Katarina's eyes widened, and she laughed out loud.

"This frail thing? A Demacian soldier? Talon, I'm genuinely offended."

Lux's eyes locked on Talon. This was the man Ayer feared, another pawn of General Du Couteau.

Katarina kicked at Lux's leg, which retracted quickly.

"A teenage girl sent to spy on me, the deadliest woman in Noxus. Better call the demon jester and tell him that joke."

She laughed again, more like a taunt. Talon spit, not responding.

"What do you want, girl?" Katarina returned to her prey. "Why are you following me?"

Lux was silent. This woman was at least ten years her elder. Lux was intelligent enough to understand that this woman, behind her casual gloating and derogatory demeanor, was just as dangerous as Talon.

Katarina drew an oversized, jagged dagger and held it in her right hand, warding Lux from making a movement. With her other hand reached for Lux's hurt shoulder. When Lux coiled, Katarina pushed her face aside and pulled up her sleeve, revealing the Noxian tattoo.

Katarina's eyes glared at Talon in response. He looked unimpressed.

"You know this tattoo, Talon. You grew up on the streets. This is how they mark your kind."

"Fine," Talon responded gruffly. "So what was she doing waiting in the shadows?"

"Oh, I have a guess..." Katarina smiled confidently.

Lux avoided her gaze. She caught a glimpse of the open street.

"You want to escape?" asked Katarina as she force Lux's attention by holding her face. "No... you want a piece of me, don't you?"

Lux's eyes met with hers. She could feel her temperature rising.

"That's right. You want to fight me. Get up."

Lux complied. She rose surprisingly quick.

"I knew it. Here," Katarina said, extending the handle of one of her knives. "Take it. Embrace your death, Noxian."

Lux looked at the blade and remembered something Luther had said about Noxus: the strong surviving...

"C'mon, girl," coaxed Katarina, bouncing the gift weapon. Talon had not moved from his spot, his steely gaze on Lux.

Her mind raced. She had to fight... to die... and maybe... they would let her live?

"She's a quiet one, Talon."

He didn't say anything.

Lux turned back to Katarina and, in a turn of her arm, struck the dagger away with her wrist, knocking it to the ground with a 'clang'. Katarina reacted quickly, stepping back and drew her second large dagger.

"Meet Sinister Steel, Sinistra."

In a flash, Katarina was on her, or where Lux would have been, as Lux was now floating above her. The Noxian spells were fresh in her mind. She had called a gust of cold wind to throw herself into the air. Ancient Noxian words left her lips, calling a bolt of lightning into existence, nearly striking Katarina.

Katarina's armed hands fell to her hips, the blades covering her mid section. The next second, the arms shot out, and a pair of kunai flew right at Lux. The first one was deflected by a spell-shield of Luminosity around Lux's wrist. The second dagger destroyed the shield.

As Lux reached the peak of her ascension, she grabbed a metal pipe sticking out of the alley wall, holding herself a full story above her assailant. Katarina looked up at her from the ground and, turning around, began running up the opposite wall. Climbing a full story, she leapt at Lux, who immediately let go of the pipe, but not before summoning a wall of flame behind her. Katarina dove straight into the blaze. Crying out in surprise, she recoiled, flipping back off the wall and onto the ground. 

Both of them hit the ground hard and had to recover. Lux took one glance in the direction of the road, too far to reach. She couldn't let her eyes off of Katarina for a moment.

"Enough, Katarina!" yelled Talon. "She will answer for her actions at the barracks!"

Katarina paused, her clothes and skin steaming from heat. She was not even out of breath, unlike Lux. 

She hesitated but decided to ignore Talon.

"Where did you learn this magic, girl? What school?" Katarina asked her, keeping her blades held up.

Lux shook her head.

"I did not suffer the luxury of schooling, my lady."

"My lady..." Katarina smiled broadly, glancing back at Talon. "She's so polite when she's trying to kill me."

"I'm not trying to kill you," Lux responded calmly, between breaths.

"Oh, you'd better be," retorted Katarina, who came at her again in a sprint.

Lux immediately brandished her arm and a whip made of light emerged from it. It flew at Katarina who, visibly shocked, became entangled in the Luminosity and fell to the ground. The magic made her opponent briefly glow. Lux followed this up by summoning a wall of dirt from between the cobblestone, separating the two of them briefly.

Now run! Her brain yelled at her.

But another voice interjected. 

'A Noxian does not run.'

You are not a Noxian! You are a child of Demacia!

'Sinistra wouldn't run.'

...

'I will win.'

Katarina leapt from the trap with a yell, showering the alley with kunai A shield of light surrounded Lux, into which the daggers dug like butter before dropping harmlessly to the ground.

Lux could feel the lighted open road at her back, beckoning her to run. 

Katarina descended, landing on the pile of dirt, framed by the darkness of the alley. 

For the first time, Katarina wasn't talking, but her eyes were wild. It was those same eyes, the eyes that murdered her brother. Lux mistook this fervor for weakness.

"Your move," said Lux confidently, without a trace of emotion.

"My move, Sinistra?" asked Katarina.

Metal pushed into Lux's back. The Katarina in the alley had vanished. She was now behind her, holding her arms locked, unable to cast.

"This game's over."

She was dead. Lux closed her eyes, paused, and then spoke. She listened to herself speak in a voice that sounded entirely foreign to her.

"Kill me, Katarina, and I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I died a Noxian by your hands, my... idol."

The blade held firm in Katarina's grip. Lux could hear the squeak of leather against her hand.

"Alone on the street, and fighting a trained champion," she finally muttered. Her breath fell on Lux's neck. "You would die a Noxian but as a child and a fool!"

She released Lux, throwing her to the ground. Talon finally stepped out of the shadows towards them.

"Stay your hand, Talon."

"Miss Katarina..."

"I'll have no more of you," she demanded. "Go report to my father of our success and make no mention of this."

She ordered him like a soldier and yet like a servant.

Talon hesitated, before growling. He removed himself from sight, disappearing like a ghost, leaving the two of them in the alley.

Lux's heart was pounding. Her hands throbbed, the air above them distorted by waves of heat. She felt more alive than she ever had before. It felt... amazing.

"Tell me where you got those spells," Katarina demanded, standing over her.

Lux looked up at her. Katarina's arms were crossed, her voluminous hair, even when disheveled, remained stunning.

"Well?" she insisted.

"I stole them."

"Of course you stole them. No man or woman of your birth simply finds magic like that. From where?"

"Witherwood."

"Witherw-" Katarina cocked her head, her mouth slightly open. Her red lips pursed. "Quite a claim, Sinistra..."

"You're not going to kill me?" Lux asked, touching the cold cobblestone with her hands.

Katarina's fierce eyes had changed back into normal, more guarded. Lux suspected that this was the face she made while calculating.

"No." Her eyes flitted away. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"How did you get in the library?" Katarina wondered aloud, but she immediately crossed her arms. She seemed to be thinking rapidly. "Nevermind. Sinistra, I've decided to let you live, for now. Of course I'd enjoy killing you. You've caused me enough trouble to deserve it, but... it would feel like such a waste."

Lux looked at her nervously.

"Have dinner with me," Katarina finally suggested, strangely avoiding eye contact.

"Dinner?"

"Or I can turn you in to the night watch. I'm sure they would enjoy your company."

"What..." Lux stammered. "I don't understand."

Katarina smiled with amusement.

"Here."

She dug into her satchel and threw a small metal object at Lux.

"Don't you dare come to the Du Couteau manor dressed like that. Buy yourself some decent clothes."

Lux held a small medallion, like a coin with an emblem of a snake wrapped around a sword.

"That will get you what you need. If you steal it, try to wander off, I'll have Talon hunt you down."

Lux was in a daze. One second she was dueling the enemy of Noxus, now she was being helped to her feet and invited to dinner.

"When?" Lux asked, futilely brushing off the dirty cloak.

"Tomorrow night is too late. It must be tonight..." Katarina insisted, looking down the alley. "Now get the hell out of here before I change my mind."

Lux, bewildered, took one hesitant look at Katarina and her weapons, then took off. She kept glancing back, convinced that, at any moment, a knife would be flying at her. She had never met someone more terrifying, and tonight she was going to have dinner with her.


	6. The Snake of Du Couteau

Lux ran her fingers over the carven metal. She rubbed at it because it was frigid to the touch, but doing so only made her fingers cold.

She was thinking about Katarina again. Her mind explored every step of their fight, every spell. She had executed her magic flawlessly and yet lost so quickly and easily. She'd lost the fight, she supposed, before it had even begun.

Lux had always been the best at everything she had set out to accomplish. When she took up the study of Luminosity at the age of ten, she was one of a small handful of Demacians alive who could even perform it, and at the age of twelve she was considered a prodigy. And now, four years later, armed with some of the most powerful Noxian spells she could find, she was bested by a woman with no knowledge of magic whatsoever.

She gripped the Du Couteau crest in her palm. Something about that woman just made Lux want to hit her.

She shook her head and dropped the last of the papers in the metal bin. Her half-baked notes from last night filled it up, along with leftover propaganda from the League of Legends match. Sion's face peered back at her from the program she'd purchased. She flipped the magazine open and ripped out the profile of Katarina Du Couteau before dropping the rest into the bin. A simple fire spell, and it was quickly ash.

She still hadn't seen Reginald today. For all she knew, he had been reassigned to some other mission without her. Well, now she had her own mission.

Sinistra, Lux realized, had become a real person during that fight with Katarina. In the passion of battle the orphaned, ruthless thief of her imagination had been realized, when before she had felt so... imaginary. She bristled at the memory of Reginald laughing at Sinistra's name. Katarina had believed her. Sinistra was a real, believable Noxian, and as she stepped out into the afternoon new questions about her were bubbling to the surface.

What did Sinistra like to wear? What kinds of foods did she enjoy? What relationships has she had? Walking through the market was like an expedition into fiction.

The streets of Noxus welcomed her. Her gate was confident; her eyes eager. She had the look of someone ready for a change, ready to invest. When the shopkeepers asked for payment, she showed them the mark.

That was all they required. She suspected this metal object to represent some form of credit. One look at it, and the shopkeepers would nod and offer their wares. Show them the mark of Du Couteau, and it was hers.

While she had gotten strange looks from the tailors when inquiring about dresses (probably due to her current ragged appearance), she found herself attracted to more rugged clothes anyway. Lux quickly settled on the notion that her new clothes should fit Sinistra's story of a girl who'd been raised on the streets but was now potentially a guest of the Du Couteau family, and a fearless mage.

So she visited the closest leatherworks shop and purchased a tight-fitting pair of brown pants. They were tough but still gave her lots of mobility for casting spells. She liked the black diamond pattern that was seamed down the sides of the legs. Looking at herself in the mirror, she spent a good few minutes admiring how flattering they made her look from the back. She decided to compliment them with a sturdy pair of black boots and a new belt. Lux also picked up a simple black jerkin to wear, sleeveless to make it easy for her to cast spells and work with her utility belt. She still felt naked without a spellbook, but she wouldn't find anything like that in the merchant district.

She tossed her old clothes in a bin in one of the street alleys, having left the last shop attired in her new purchases. She glanced at her ugly green cloak one last time before discovering an interesting shop with no name, marked only a sign with a skull and a sword through it. The shop had a salty smell that reminded her of the Noxian docks. Hanging flags and ropes obstructed much of the interior. A record player somewhere creaked out the sound of a slightly-out-of-tune accordion.

The woman at the counter in the back was talking with an older patron. She had thin, curly hair and weathered skin. She spoke with a strange drawl in her voice. They conversed loudly but head-down. Lux peered at them between a pair of wardrobes.

"So, Dorothy, I heard that you were planning on shipping your wares north."

"That's right," said the curly-haired woman, chewing on tobacco. "They're making it worth our while. I think ye should take them up on it too, Mitchell."

Lux sauntered over to a glass display that showcased a brilliant lavender cloak, embroidered with a shimmering thread around the hood's edge in a pattern that reminded her of the wisps magical spells would often form. 

"Those high-minded Wits would stink up my wares with their incense. They can keep their religious crap on their own island. I'm not interested."

"Ye best watch yer language if they visit me shop. I don't want ye saying such things when that so-and-so ambassador comes."

"Ionians in Noxus?" the man growled.

"Shh!" the woman ducked away towards Lux. "Somethin' I can help ye with, missy?"

"This cloak..." Lux replied, enamored. "Is there a story to it?"

The woman's face was a stone, except for the chewing. "Aye, it's a nice piece. That cloak is worth more than yer tuck hide. 'Twas fashioned by the noble Kirisame of Noxus."

"Forgive me," said Lux. "I'm not familiar with the man."

"Woman," Dorothy replied, spitting. "She's dead. Girl was murdered in the streets. Shame. The cloak's not for sale. It's a window item. Ye best move along, girly."

Lux smirked and produced her mark. "How much?"

Dorothy stopped chewing, eyes locked on the metal object. Her face went white.

The other shopkeepers had given a similar reaction to the 'Snake of Du Couteau', as they had called it.

The man at the counter had been leaning his back against it and began to chuckle and cough. 

"Shut up, Mitch!"

Mitch's jaw clamped shut.

"Ye... Ye work for the Du Couteau's?"

Lux crossed her arms. "Is that a problem?"

"Of- of course not!" the woman stammered. She bumped into a hat rack, which fell to the floor. Lux continued to marvel at the cloak that would soon be hers, and she didn't see that the woman's hands were shaking.

"We're always happy to have the business of the Du Couteau's," she smiled, returning the hat rack and produced a small key. Opening the glass door, she remove the cloak from the display.

"How much is it worth?" Lux asked. The woman returned her a curious look. "I'd like to know."

The woman's eyes bulged.

"It's priceless," she replied breathily.

"Thank you very much," Lux said with a cheery smile, taking the cloak from the shopkeeper's still hands. She turned on her new boots to exit the shop.

"Tell her-" the woman started. "We are certainly going to accept her offer!"

Lux glanced back, careful not to betray her curiosity. Deciding to say nothing in response, she left.

"That was odd," she said to herself.

Lux moved quickly away back up the street. She clawed at the cloak in her hands envyingly, but she didn't have time to admire it. She looked up at the crest of the mountain peaking over the rooftops. On its peak, a massive palace was built into the rockside. There were only about a couple hours of daylight left, and it was a long walk to the mountain entrance.

It had occurred to her earlier that Katarina had invited her to the Du Couteau manor without any instruction of how to get there.

She produced the map that Reginald had given her. The mountain of Noxus was surrounded by a large moat with only a few points of access by bridge. He had snuck her across the eastern bridge in Bartok's cart for the Blacktorch mission. Lux hoped her mark was enough to get her across, or else she'd need some slick magic to make her way over the water. First, she had to pass through a section of Noxus called the Grimoire.

The Grimoire was not a well-travelled part of Noxus. Most chose to avoid it. That was because it housed Noxians notorious for a fascination with the occult. Warlocks, witches and witch doctors dabbled in the darkest of arts in these unlit alleys. But Lux figured it was her best option for acquiring the magical supplies she craved. It was about a mile walk from here.

She decided to put on the cloak. Its design was gorgeous. It was, she thought, exactly what Sinistra wanted, an ideal costume for her rendezvous at the Du Couteau mansion. It was cool and soft to the touch, short in length, draping just below her chest and over her shoulders. She left the thick hood pulled back behind her head.

As she adjusted it, Lux heard a whistle from across the street. Another gawker. This time, she decided, she wouldn't endure it.

She walked right over to the man, who glanced around himself incredulously. His looks were ordinary and forgettable.

"Hey there, babe," he said, putting his hands on his sides. "Like what you see?"

"Not really, no," Lux said shortly, brushing her hair with her fingers as she approached. "I just wanted you to know that you'd whistled at the wrong girl."

Before the man had a chance to reply, the ground exploded from under his feet and he toppled over onto his back, feet flying into the air. A box of fresh fish toppled over him as he scrambled to remove his boots, which were smoking with heat. The man's companions turned to Lux in shock. The purple cloak fluttered around her before settling back down as the magical power dissipated.

"And my name is 'Sinistra', not 'babe'," she finished, turning away without hesitation.

"D-damn you, Sinistra!" she heard the distressed voice behind her yell.

That felt good, she thought with a smirk.

"Hey!" she heard another voice as she was a ways off. She turned around to see the fish seller scrambling to save his merchandise. "Get back here, mage! Look what you've done."

Lux was about to shout 'sorry' and come back to help, but then she remembered that Sinistra might not care. She was a Noxian, after all.

"Quiet! Don't be a fool," the man named Mitchell said, approaching his fellow merchant. "She works for the Du Couteau's!"

The silence that followed confirmed that Lux should turn away and continue, leaving the mess behind her.

It was nice to be taken seriously for once, Noxians intimidated by a teenage girl. She could get used to this respect.

Coming to the edge of the Grimoire, Lux stopped. There was a noticeable threshold between the two districts, with the street and buildings ahead of her covered by sheets of canvas pulled across large portions of it and held up with tall, wooden poles. This left the area in a seemingly perpetual darkness, and Lux swore that there was a murky aspect to the air, possibly gas seeping from the sewers but maybe something more unnatural.

She hesitated. She was alone on the street. This looked like a dangerous place to walk alone.

"What do I have to worry for?" Lux asked herself out loud. She was one of the most powerful mages in all Noxus...

She strode forward confidently, gripping the mark in her hand, ready to find a shop that could supply her with what she wanted.

The uninviting streets of the Grimoire echoed with unfamiliar sounds: grunts and coughs from shuttered windows, animal sounds from the darkened portions of the streets, the occasional moan or yell from the distance...

Lux's eyes fell on the first sign of magical wares she could find and quickly knocked on a door. It was marked with the universal symbol for magic, a circle of power. The door opened.

"Yar?" growled a hooded man whose nose extended from its blackness. He breathed heavily.

"Uh, a spellbook," Lux said plainly, flinching. "I'm looking for a spellbook."

No response at first. The man's long-nailed fingers curled open and clenched.

"Young," he finally said.

His voice chilled her.

"I have... payment."

She glanced around her, making sure she wasn't being flanked by unseen others. Her new cloak was starting to feel warm.

"In," the man exhaled, walking backwards then turning away, leaving the door ajar.

Lux quickly closed the door behind her. The room was practically black, so she decided to cast a spell of light. Strange how it seemed to take longer than usual to do...

But before she did, the shopkeeper lit a lamp, revealing a cobweb-filled mess of a shop with no windows. All four walls were shelves, packed with objects without marking or label. The numerous flasks and vials reflected the weak light of the lamp.

The man was scrounging behind a desk, his rear sticking up. The back of his cloak held an interesting mark, like a rose. He peered over the wood.

"I'd like to see the money first," he said in a very scratchy voice.

"This should suffice," Lux smiled, producing the mark and holding it up to the light.

But she got an unexpected reaction. The man threw up his hands, backing up into the shelf behind him. Spinning around awkwardly, he came back around the desk, arms outstretched.

"Out! Out!" he yelled.

Lux resisted his attempts to push her away. He seemed uneager to touch her.

"What's the deal?" Lux asked, pushing back with her fingertips. The man braced, hands rustling under his cloak.

"High Command..." he muttered. "Filth... Traitor..."

"What?" Lux was surprised. "I'm not a traitor to the High Command!"

The man shook his head and approached aggressively. Lux opened the door quickly.

"It's okay. I'm going!"

"A pox on the High Command," he growled at her as she stepped out. "We have a new matron now, scum."

"Oh do you?" a low voice appeared behind Lux.

"Ah!" the man croaked, falling onto the floor in front of Katarina Du Couteau. A small dagger fell from his cloak onto the wooden floor. Lux spun around.

"Hello, Sinny," Katarina smiled, brow cross. "Interesting place you've chosen to visit."

"K-Katarina..." Lux gasped.

"No! Please!" the man screamed dramatically.

"No? Please?" Katarina hummed, baring her teeth. "What was that about a matron?"

The man shook. Katarina pushed Lux out of the way.

"Looks like I'll be caging more than one rat today. But would anyone really know if I just stabbed you?"

The hooded man sat up, face still unseen.

"We know... We know. The Black Rose knows."

"The Black Rose?" Katarina paused. "They're all dead."

The man shook his head, seeming to regain his composure.

"There will be a new king in Noxus... So says she..."

Katarina drew steel.

"Noxus has no king, old man."

Lux caught a glimmer of magic emanating from the man's left hand. In a flash, she pushed into Katarina's shoulder and stretched out her left arm. She felt steel against her hand as a poisonous projectile bounced off of her wrist as she cast a spell. Blood trickled down her arm.

The warlock cried out as the venomous cloud surrounded his face. He fell to the floor and spasmed for a few seconds before becoming still.

Lux exhaled with a soft cry. Katarina's dagger had cut the back of her wrist. Drops of blood fell off her elbow. But more than that, the man was dead. Lux had never experienced death in person, let alone been indirectly the cause of it. She finally saw his face, bulging eyes, clenched face, purplish hue. It looked empty.

"Idiot," Katarina growled, dropping the dagger and kneeling, turning the dead body over. Lux watched her, putting pressure on her wrist.

"Sorry," Lux said quickly, breaking out of a slight trance.

"Not you..." Katarina said, head down, ripping open the warlock's robes. Lux thought that she was searching the body, but instead she rose and wrapped a torn piece of robe tight around Lux's bleeding wrist.

"That was me," she said, putting Lux's hand over the dressing. "Reflexes. Doesn't look that bad, really."

"Thanks," Lux replied in disbelief. She found herself feeling a little dizzy. Katarina pulled her inside the shop.

"You know, they sell spellbooks at the Ivory Ward," Katarina said gruffly, stepping just outside the door to look for witnesses. "It's much safer."

"Old habits," Lux chose to say. "Besides, I can't get into the Ivory Ward. It's in the Military District."

Katarina pulled the body behind the desk and re-emerged with a spellbook, complete with belt. She tossed it to Lux, who admired it briefly before tying it around her waist.

"I have the privilege," said Katarina. "And so does anyone who bears the Du Couteau Crest."

Lux noticed that the mark had been in her hand the whole time. Now it rested between her palm and the blood-soaked wound dressing. It still felt even colder. She pulled it out and put it in her new belt pouch.

"You cleaned up nice, Sinistra," Katarina smiled slightly, observing Lux's new attire. "I like the cloak."

Lux almost smiled back, but then she remembered that it was Katarina. She was already moving passed her towards the door.

"We should move before someone notices us. Follow me."

Katarina moved briskly, leading Lux through the Grimoire. The occasional hooded figure scuttled away from them as they passed. They had to step over stray pieces of wooden fallen over onto the quiet streets.

Lux wondered who The Black Rose was. She was fairly ignorant of Noxian history and was coming to grips with how ill-prepared she was to play the role she'd chosen. Following one of the most dangerous women in Noxus, pretending to be a native Noxian... How long could she maintain the facade?

This place seemed to smell worse and worse the farther in they went. Lux could see the mountain ahead beginning to loom over them, a skull-like face grinning at its future guests. The mouth of the face, Lux noticed, was actually made of carved stone, a large wall that connected a number of military compounds. The entire mountain was the Military District, dominated by the High Command and its military force. The entire upper-class of Noxus lived under the protection of this frightening fortress.

The two of them emerged suddenly from the Grimoire into an open, normal-looking street, greeted by a group of armed guards. The sun was setting now. The canopy of the Grimoire had denied them a Noxian sunset. A small metal bridge stood in front of them, suspended over a black moat over a hundred feet across. 

Katarina didn't hesitate, marching silently towards the bridge. Lux struggled to keep up and stay close. The guards stepped aside without a word, allowing them to cross. It was just wide enough for a pedestrian to cross. This must be a private bridge, Lux thought.

"How did you find me?" Lux asked, breaking an uncomfortable silence.

"Quiet," Katarina only responded. She wasn't even looking at her anymore. Lux found herself becoming more nervous as the prisons and military outposts loomed over them. They were so close that the mountain had become a wall that shot up into the sky. Beams of moonlight trickled through the clouds over it.

The path they took led into a lamp-lit hole in the mountain. A long, narrow tunnel eventually became a series of slippery stone steps that climbed for an immeasurable amount of time. The cut on her hand was no longer bleeding, but she could feel the pressure of her heartbeat quickening through it.

Oh my god, Lux realized. She's taking me to the High Command.

No Demacian had stepped foot in the High Command for hundreds of years, or those that had never lived long enough to tell anyone. As far as she knew, it was a massive military complex within the mountain. Somewhere within the gaping maw of the skull face, the five generals of the High Command met and ruled the fates of its citizens.

Lux held her breath as they came to the top of the stairs.

To her disappointment, the metal gate met an empty, well-cobbled street. Katarina produced a key from her belt to unlock the gate. Around them were numerous residencies, marked with flags and crests indicating families and orders of repute. Mounted soldiers roamed the streets. She stopped and turned to Lux when they came to an empty street corner.

"You can give me the crest back," Katarina said.

"OK," Lux agreed, uncertain of what was happening. She handed her the mark.

Katarina pocketed the crest and drew her right-hand dagger, pointing it towards her.

"You are now officially in my custody, Sinistra, for intruding upon restricted ground in Noxus and for attacking a soldier of Noxus."

Lux flinched. Katarina grabbed her by the wrist with her free hand.

"Don't make a move, fool. Your magic is too weak to match me now."

Lux's eyes widened as she realized why she had felt so strange earlier.

"What have you done to me?"

Katarina smiled, letting go of Lux's wrist roughly. She reproduced the crest.

"This crest was smelted with null-magical properties. It slowly diminishes the magical power of anyone who holds it."

Lux was astounded that she'd been tricked. She looked at her hands subconsciously.

"But I cast the shield spell to protect you!"

"I'll admit, Sinistra, I was quite impressed that you could cast at all," Katarina said, putting her hands on her hips. "But you're only lucky you were holding that crest in your hand. The spell must have reflected off of the null-magic energy. I doubt that little burst of light you produced did anything."

She pointed with her dagger for them to continue.

"But I appreciated the sentiment, Sinistra. Now, let's go."

It was all a trick, she thought. It was some kind of twisted, evil plan, Lux reasoned, angry with herself. How could she have thought that Katarina wanted anything other than to capture her? The crest was a trick to reduce her magical abilities, maybe because Katarina knew she was too dangerous to capture but too important to kill. Had she realized that she was a spy?

"What are you thinking about, Sinistra?" Katarina asked playfully without turning back to her. Her red hair bounced elegantly as they walked. Her footfalls were loud and confident.

"I don't know what to think," Lux responded after a few seconds. "I don't know what you want with me."

"I told you," she laughed, still facing forward. "We're having dinner."

She stopped in front of a park gate, or at least Lux had assumed it was a park because of all the foliage. On a second look, she could see a large pool and fountain in the distance and behind it, a castle.

"Home, sweet home," Katarina smirked, unlocking the gate and throwing them open with both arms. "Come along, Sinistra."

Lux clenched and unclenched her hands, hoping that somehow blood flow would return power to them. She felt naked.

The garden was hidden in the darkness, so whatever beauty it might have had was disturbing. Statues and shrubs had a sinister look to them. She turned around at the open gate leading to the street which Katarina had left open.

The manor itself was three stories tall, adorned with Noxian spires that were very castle-like. The third floor windows were the tallest. All around the building, Junipers extended upwards.

Katarina and Lux were met by a valet on the front steps.

"Miss Katarina," he began.

"Yes, I'm late. Tell my father we have a guest," she began to ascend the steps, not giving him notice.

"He is not in," the valet continued, causing Katarina to stop.

"Not in? We were supposed to have dinner! Typical... Just go shut the gate."

Katarina hopped up the steps, blades bouncing on her back and again swung open both doors, leaving them ajar for Lux to follow her. The servant's eyes lingered on Lux.

They entered a tall foyer, guarded by a ten-foot-tall painting of an armed man in a black soldier's uniform. Their footfalls echoed on the marble. As they exited the foyer, the noise was muffled by the decorated rugs that filled the halls. Objects of porcelain, pillars of marble, chandeliers of glass and mirrors of gold greeted them through the long journey from room to opulent room. It was like walking through the home of King Jarvan III himself.

"Follow me."

Lux struggled to keep up with her without breaking into a jog. Katarina flew open another door, revealing a hallway with many archways. The mansion seemed much larger than Lux had originally observed.

It was making her very uncomfortable that Katarina was so quiet, but she didn't dare speak up.

The red hair seemed to fly around Katarina as she pushed another door aside, entering a far smaller room, this one with wallpaper covered in portraits.

"Close the door," she said.

Lux did so, and as the door closed, Katarina turned and finally faced her. In the dimmer lamplight, Lux recoiled at her face. The scar that ran across her left eye was more pronounced, and her expression was one of unreadable ferocity.

Katarina put her hands behind her back.

"You really did steal from Blacktorch," she said.

Lux didn't speak out of pure intimidation. She only nodded.

"I'm impressed. I'm not easily impressed."

"Th-thank you."

"Shut up," she continued. "There was an incident a few weeks ago at Teller's Well. Five soldiers were attacked by a mage. That was you?"

Lux knew better than to be dishonest with her. "Yes."

Katarina looked her outfit over. "Your magic... It's self-taught..."

Lux hesitated. "I've read books before... theory. I tried to get into a school, but the ones that would accept me weren't exactly... challenging."

"No," Katarina agreed, standing more casually. "No, I doubt any school of any real worth would accept you."

"But I can learn a spell by sight," Lux volunteered. "If I see someone perform magic, I can replicate it."

Katarina stood silently, looking at the wall before breaking into a grin.

"Replicate it?" Katarina suddenly threw her head back and broke onto into an uncontained laugh. Lux braced herself.

"Sinistra," she looked into her eyes, composed. "I hope you know that as it stands, I am obligated to have you imprisoned."

Lux's throat tightened. She glanced around at the regal faces on the wallpaper, all glaring out at her.

"You've admitted in private your role in the theft of government property and the assault of officers in the line of duty, in addition to the previously mentioned violations, among others. Simply put, you've made it all too easy for the Noxian courts to assign you to a life of imprisonment."

She walked closer to Lux, looking down on her.

"That being said, the High Command despises paying for long prison sentences and prefers mandatory military service or death. I imagine you'd opt for the military service, but allow me to offer you an alternative option."

"W-what do you want with me?" Lux stammered.

Katarina's scarred eye met hers. "I want your unwavering obedience, mage, in exchange for your pathetic life."

She turned away and approached a desk with a quill and paper. Lux stared into space, bewildered by the offer.

"Honestly, you should be thanking me... A girl with your natural talent, living on the streets is a cruel joke of fate."

"You're not turning me in?" Lux asked.

"Well that depends...."

Lux's mind raced. Her working under this woman? What did she expect her to do? Steal? Murder? She remembered the dead body of the man in the Grimoire.

Katarina picked up a pen.

"What is your full name, Sinistra?" she asked, beginning to write. "Or is it just 'Sinistra'?"

"I..." Lux thought of her fake past, how she had no parents. "I discarded my full name."

"A name..." said Katarina. "Is your identity. The Du Couteau name is one of elegance and honor."

Yeah, right, Lux thought to herself.

"Simple contract," Katarina said, throwing a paper across the desk with the quill.

Lux looked it over. It was indeed simple: 

_To the service of the Du Couteau household, one 'Sinistra' yields fealty on pain of death. This contract shall expire upon the will of Katarina Du Couteau._

"It's the same sort of contract Talon signed for my father," Katarina explained. "He once found himself in the same position as you. And don't take the severance terms lightly. I expect absolute subservience."

Lux doubted that Talon would sign such a contract if it meant serving someone he despised, but nevertheless Lux intended to sign it. This was her chance to serve Demacia, and she signed it eagerly as though it was presented to her by the king himself.

"You cleaned up good," Katarina said again, putting her finger and thumb on her cheek. She seemed to be more at ease. "Listen, Sinistra. I don't intend to demean you. You are not like my servants. I have yet to meet a slave with ambition. You have (albeit recklessly) taken every apparent opportunity to get what you want. If that's not the definition of a Noxian, I don't know what is."

Lux held back her impulse to respond by defending the cause of servants.

"So I should be happy that you're blackmailing me?" she said, clasping the contract.

"This is your opportunity. This is charity. You're the one that has acted recklessly and foolishly. You deserve imprisonment, Sinistra, but I'm taking you under my wing. I feel like a saint, honestly."

Lux bit her tongue again. Katarina's comprehension of kindness was laughable.

"A 'thank you', would suffice," Katarina growled at her silence.

"It's rather convenient for you to save my life, isn't it?"

Katarina laughed again.

"Yes, it is, isn't it? Life's so fair."

Lux signed the paper and pushed it back to her.

"Yes, I'm thankful. I'll do whatever you ask me to."

Katarina rolled up the contract and put it inside her vest. "Now we eat."

The eyes of the portraits seemed to follow her exit through the study door. A servant of Demacia was now a servant of Noxus.

They entered through double doors into a massive circular room with a wide spiral staircase running around it. In its center was a dining table covered in food, long enough to seat forty (and seemingly enough food for forty). At each end were ornate chairs intended for the heads of the household. Lux noticed that, curiously, hanging over the top of one chair was a cloak of silk. Along the shoulders of the cloak a garland of silver and jewels was embroidered.

"Sit wherever you'd like, Sinistra," Katarina said casually. She started removing her weapons and dropping them onto a small table near the door. The metal echoed loudly throughout the dining hall. She glanced at Lux.

"Rule of the house. No weapons at dinner."

Lux stood awkwardly as Katarina removed a seemingly unending amount of blades from her person and dropped them on the scarred table. Lux was reminded how she was unarmed in addition to her inability to perform magic.

"You've already ruined that table, sister..." came a female voice from above them. "Who is this?"

They both turned towards the staircase. A young, brown-haired woman descended it in regal dress. Her hands attended to a set of diamond earrings.

"If father knew you were bringing strange women into the mansion..."

"Hold your tongue, sister," Katarina interrupted.

As the woman reached the dining hall floor, the younger Du Couteau examined herself, adjusting her silver and green party dress. She glanced around at the table's offerings.

"What, is this a private dinner party? Am I not invited? Please..."

The woman approached Lux, extending her hand. She was much fairer in appearance than Katarina, at least in her opinion. 

"Cassiopeia Du Couteau," she introduced herself. They exchanged a small squeeze of the hand. "Your outfit is mesmerizing. What house do you represent?"

"Uh..." Lux hesitated.

"No house, Cass," Katarina smiled. "She's another sewer rat like Talon."

Cassiopeia recoiled slightly. "Oh, I see. Interesting. Well, whatever you do is none of my business. I'm seeing Daniel tonight, Kat. You remember Daniel? I'll send him your best. You two know each other, right?"

Katarina started to look annoyed.

"I don't care what dignitary you're seducing tonight, sister."

"Now, Kat," cooed Cassiopeia, approaching her coyly. "It's a simple dinner between friends."

It was strange to see two grown adults seem to bicker like children.

"I'll leave you two, then. Listen... whoever you are."

"Sinistra," Lux replied.

"Right, listen," she switched from her casual demeanor into an intense stare. "You're playing a dangerous game coming here."

She turned again to Katarina.

"Father will know about this."

"No, he will not," Katarina growled, following her. "This is of no concern to him."

"Tsk, keeping secrets from your own father," she cooed. "Well, whatever. Goodnight you two."

A whimsical, humming laughter echoed from the hall with her exit. Katarina sat loudly down at the table, grabbing a crab fork.

"What a bitch," she grumbled, setting her plate with food.

Lux uncomfortably found a seat and glanced around at the plates and platters. The food looked delicious, but there was more than either of them could possibly eat.

"Will there be... others?"

Katarina squinted her eyes in amusement.

"Just. Us. Better than Yordle dog food, hmm?"

This comment made Lux feel very uneasy.

"Eat, girl. That's an order."

Lux looked down at her plate. "Yes, sir."

Katarina returned a stern glare. She pointed at her.

"I like you," she said, not smiling. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow." She took a drink of wine.

"Why?" Lux asked. "What's tomorrow?"

"Probably the worst day of your life," she said casually before biting into a leg of chicken.


	7. Rend & Abrade

After dinner, Lux was taken to a bedroom with a four-poster bed and a mattress softer than any she'd ever slept in. She sunk into it and pulled the comforter over her. The silk sheets were cool and smooth, and on top of them there was a wool blanket she couldn't help but run her hands over. She had been given a lace nightgown to sleep in so beautiful that she been spinning in front of the tall mirror by the bed. Her personal bathroom had cold and hot running water in a large porcelain tub large enough for four people, with selections of fragrant soaps and potpourri. Across from the bed, a fireplace crackled, framed by an open silver grate. Beside it, the tall 3rd-story window overlooked the rear courtyard of the mansion, currently draped in darkness, over which the lights of the Noxian city proper flickered.

The luxury of this mansion was beyond anything she had experienced at home. Lux's parents were nobles of the royal court and were certainly wealthy, but the extravagance of these accommodations was without match. This was the home of one of the most powerful men in the world, the Noxian equivalent of a lord. Everything was kingly.

It was all a nice change from the wooden tub and creaky bed at Bartok's shop.

As comfortable as this bed was, Lux didn't want to fall asleep. The whole experience was surreal. What kind of information would she be able to uncover here? How could she get back in contact with the Sprig? What did Katarina want with her? What would happen if they realized that she was really a Demacian?

It was best not to think about that.

When Lux had left with the servants for her new quarters, Katarina had remained at the table. Looking down on her from the ascending stairwell, Lux had seen the uneaten food being carted away from the table as a tray of books was brought to Miss Du Couteau. The last image she saw of her was her head looking down over a large, open tome with a red seal.

Katarina must have recognized Lux's magical prowess. Why else would she go through all this trouble? She was planning something, but what? Did it have anything to do with General Du Couteau's return to Noxus?

Marcus Du Couteau, as one of the five generals of the High Command, oversaw the actions of a large portion of the military. He was known politically by Demacians as 'The Hand of Noxus'. Because of the sheer size of Noxus's military force and its constant activity, it was a very rare occurrence for all five of the generals to be in Noxus proper. As Ayer had inferred, plans were being made. But to what end?

Finally, somehow, she was able to fall asleep, but it seemed like only moments later that she was jostled awake by a loud knock and bright light from the hallway.

"You're to get up," said a cranky maid from the doorway.

Lux's eyes barely opened as she struggled to comprehend her circumstances. She hadn't remembered yet where she was, and when she did she clutched at the sheets and sat up.

The maid left without waiting for a reaction, closing the door and returning the room to darkness. Lux stumbled out of bed, hovering around the edge of the room before discovering the location of a grandfather clock. She hugged up to it, squinting before discerning the time.

4 A.M.

Lux didn't dare even look at the bed; that beautiful, comfy bed. She staggered to the bathroom and flicked on the light.

Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were empty with exhaustion. Shaking her head, she ran a brush wearily through her hair before turning around and forgetting to turn the light off. She found a strange outfit lying on the bed, a black, tight-fitting sparring uniform. It covered her whole body, save for her neck, wrists and feet. Her new clothes were missing, her belts and boots left on bronze hooks by the door.

By the time she'd dressed, the maid had returned.

"Miss Katarina wants you in the courtyard."

"I... don't know where that is," Lux yawned. There was no light outside the window. Either all of Noxus was asleep, or it was a dense fog tonight.

"Pshh," the girl turned her head, leading her on with a tired demeanor. They descended the dining hall staircase and made their way towards the rear of the mansion. A tall door opened into a dark yard, greeting them with the sound of crickets.

It surely was a dense fog. Apart from the immediate vicinity no surrounding landmarks were visible, giving the grassy yard ahead a feeling of endlessness. Katarina stood still in the middle of the field, wearing a half-length leather jacket with her hair pulled back into a single braid.

"Good morning," she greeted Lux with a curt smile. She seemed awake.

"Does this qualify as morning?" Lux replied sleepily.

"Come here."

Lux approached her apparent trainer. She didn't know what to expect. The air was colder than she was used to due to the elevation change. There was a relatively strong breeze, and the fog rolled over them at a steady pace.

Next to Katarina, embedded in the grass, were two upright logs.

"Stand up here," she said, motioning to them with a drawn blade.

Lux complied, awkwardly standing on top of them. Each log was wide enough to adjust her footing and turn around. She was a good two feet above the ground.

"Your first lesson," Katarina began. "Is the threshing..."

"Threshing?" Lux tucked her arms, chilled in the night air.

Katarina's eyes met hers steadily.

"We rend and abrade, until all that remains is true."

She chuckled, lowering her head and turning to walk away, leaving Lux where she was. 

Her 'mentor' had vanished into the fog. Lux struggled to peer into it, hoping to make out Katarina's intentions. There was no sound except for the whispering wind running over her ears for what seemed like minutes. She shuffled awkwardly, looking down at the shimmering grass.

"We begin," Katarina's voice shouted from somewhere. Lux blinked.

So sleepy... So cold...

Nothing happened at first. Lux rubbed her hands on the legs of her sparring uniform. Then she thought she heard the sound of metal on metal.

Her eyes widened. She quickly braced her legs.

Something spinning, rapidly flying towards her, caused her to duck. Some kind of weapon narrowly missed her. She nervously arose to her original position.

"What-"

Another object, this time clearly some kind of metal ring, barely missed her right hip.

Lux spun on her toes. It had come from the right that time.

What was this exercise? Was Lux meant to fight back or dodge these projectiles?

"What do I do?"

In reply, another disc came from behind her.

She quickly switched her feet to face it, but she wasn't going to be able to dodge in time.

A burst of light lit up the fog around her as she shielded herself with magic. The metal ring whirred angrily as it bounced off of her and back into the mist. Again it returned. Again she blocked.

A gleam of sweat was forming on Lux's skin. These rings were being thrown more frequently, and the force of the throws seemed to be increasing as well.

She continued to guard herself with magic as minutes passed. The rings came, one after the other, mere seconds apart. Lux braced herself and crouched with a groan of distress. Her muscles were starting to fatigue. What was worse is that she could feel her spells getting weaker with each attack. She didn't have the endurance to deal with this kind of exercise.

As she dodged again, a ring sliced through the skin of her forearm, drawing blood. She cried out. In retaliation, Lux yelled and shot a burst of light out into the fog. She watched as the illumination travelled away from her, revealing nothing as it dissipated harmlessly upon the grass. Wasted magic.

Another attack, and she was forced to block yet again. She was grunting now with every blow. She swore to herself and pushed back the sweaty strands of hair that were matting her face.

"Stop," she yelled out to the fog. "I can't dodge anymore."

There was a brief pause. The spinning sound had stopped. Lux took the opportunity to gasp for air. She stared futilely at the rushing whiteness, tuning her ears to any possible sound. She thought she heard her attacker's footsteps in the grass.

"Are you giving up?" was all she heard. 

Lux couldn't determine for sure where it had come from. The voice seemed to echo. Maybe her ears were ringing.

She hesitated to answer. Was she close to the end? Would it end?

"No," Lux gasped between breaths. "Keep going."

Another pause, then the spinning sound haunted her again. The attacks resumed.

This is impossible, her mind told her. These attacks will hit you, and they can kill you.

One came at her feet, forcing her to jump. She landed with both feet planted on a single log and struggled to stay upright. The grass below warned her not to fall. She felt light-headed.

Another attack. Yet again she used magic to deflect it, but this time she didn't have the footing she needed. The force of the blow knocked her off log. Her blonde hair flew around her as she hit the grass with a guttural yell. Her body coiled. The wind had been knocked out of her.

Again, only the sound of the wind was audible. Lux rose to her knees coughing, gasping for air, and looked around.

"How did I do?" Lux asked loudly, assuming it was over.

"You fell," the critical voice replied from beyond the moving fog.

"Yeah, well... that was... inevitable..." Her voice croaked. She hadn't quite recovered the proper use of her lungs.

"Get up."

Lux staggered to her feet, uncertain where to look in the unrelenting fog.

"I can't cast spells... this quickly.... It's too much to block."

"Do you require a weapon?" the fog asked.

Lux paused, squeezing her eyes and shaking her head to concentrate. "How much longer?"

Katarina responded quickly. "The threshing lasts as long as it needs to. I've given you plenty of rest. Either get back up or quit."

Lux whimpered slightly. There was no quitting. She needed to stay here. For Demacia, she reluctantly returned to the posts.

And so the attacks continued, non-stop, maybe even harder this time. Lux found herself desperately attempting to dodge, trying to save her magic. Her legs screamed at her. Her lungs heaved. It wasn't just her body that was getting fatigued. Her mind was losing focus, unable to respond fast enough to see them coming. It seemed like less than a minute before she was knocked to the ground again.

"Get up," the fog repeated over the howl of chill air.

Lux remained on her wrists and knees, breathing heavily. Sweat was starting to trickle from her chin.

"You're going to kill me," she pleaded.

"You're the one standing on the posts," the voice sneered.

"I have no choice!" Lux growled angrily.

"There's always a choice!" Katarina yelled in reply, surprising Lux. "Make it!"

Lux climbed to her feet with difficulty. She had to use magic. Her body wasn't responsive enough to dodge.

So she shielded again and again. She didn't dare waste her strength on anything else. Her wrists were starting to bruise as the force of impact battered through her ever-weakening shields. Lux was clenching her teeth, bracing to survive each attack.

She wanted desperately for it to end. The one hope she clung to was for the fog to diminish, but it was as thick as ever, shifting in endless, imperceptible shapes. This exercise had to have been going on non-stop for over an hour. Her legs were shaking, unable to support her weight properly. Her wrists stung. Her sparring uniform was boiling. The attacks only seemed to be getting more intense. It wasn't possible.

Lux slipped and fell again with a whimper. This time her head hit the ground hard, straining her neck.

"I can't," she said quietly as she tried to get up. It was all that came out, too soft to have been heard.

"Are you surrendering?" some voice asked in an emotionless tone.

Lux's mind seemed like the fog around her. She could swear that it was not Katarina's voice. It was another voice, older and familiar.

"You're giving up."

"I'm not giving up," Lux called out desperately. "Just give me a moment."

_That's not good enough._

"It's all I've got," Lux yelled.

There was no response from the fog.

Lux got angrily to her feet, again rising to meet her challenge.

"I'm not afraid."

"Who am I?" the voice asked.

Lux panted, her arms drooping in front of her.

"What?"

The ring struck her in the shoulder, causing a sharp pain to course through her whole arm. She had not blocked.

"You're a street rat now," said Katarina. "But you had a family. Did they provide for you?"

The weapon came. Lux blocked, groaning through her teeth. Sweat flew through the night air.

"Yes!" Lux said.

"They left you?"

A vision of her parents seemed to project on the white fog.

"I left them."

The image was cut by the flying metal. Another blow. Lux took this one better.

"Why?"

"I... I had to!" Sinistra's story was so far from her mind at the moment. She struggled to recall it. "They... told me to."

The memories were interrupted by another attack.

"It was for the right reasons..."

A young girl crying silently; men in military uniforms are talking to her parents. The metal spun through it, distorting the image of her home.

She swung her arm at the next ring with a yell of frustration. The shielded blow deflected it upwards, whirling awkwardly.

Her mind was playing tricks on her. Her heart was pounding. The attacks stopped.

"Was it for the right reasons?" Katarina asked.

"I don't know!" Lux cried out desperately.

A new weapon shot threw the fog! An arrow! It had appeared so quickly that Lux almost didn't block it. The impact on the spell was so concentrated that she swore her wrist might have fractured. She lurched forward and cried out in pain.

"Stop it!" she demanded.

"Why are you here?" Katarina yelled.

Lux waited for another arrow, her eyes wild and focused, intent to avoid death. She tried to avoid the images that kept popping into her mind. She couldn't help but see the Security Brigade Council surrounding her, five tall figures...

"This is my path now," Lux said. "I wanted this."

She could make out the sound of the pull of a bowstring.

"Why did you follow me?"

Now she was back in the Sprig of Silver, the soldiers were there again, ready to take her away, away from what she wanted.

"I needed to."

As the truth slipped out, her voice cracked.

Another arrow flew, this time over her shoulder, causing small strands of her hair to fly up. Lux gasped.

"Do you want this, or do you need this?"

Lux's voice stammered, her eyes darting all around her for her opponent. The fog felt like it was closing in on her. It was white, but all she could see were his eyes.

"I... B-both..."

Clearly on the canvas of the fog, Lux saw her father, Marcus Crownguard.

"Come on now!"

The arrow flew through her father, past the other side of her head, scratching her ear, causing droplets of blood to fly across her view.

"No!"

From somewhere far deeper than she had ever felt, a thick welling crawled out, as though something had always been there but had never been taken up. Out of it a swirling vortex of magic threw out around her, emptying her of any energy she was clinging on to. The force of it threw out the fog, dispersing it and pushing it away, even as it attempted to press back. No more memories!

In the darkness Lux saw a silhouette. Was it real or a hallucination? A gap in the fog appeared, and Katarina's figure held a drawn bow with a cocked arrow.

The shaft flew at Lux's chest. She screamed. The wild magic filled her. A swift strike with her right arm, and the arrow broke in two in the air, spinning off-target. A piece of it glanced against her sore shoulder. The scream trailed off. Lux stood there and blinked. She had never done such a thing before. A black fire was rising from her hands. Quizzically, she stared at it, before her gaze involuntarily drew up to the sky. The clouds was reeling. Her legs collapsed, and her body hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Enough!" Katarina shouted. Lux remained lying where she was as the woman came to her. She approached unfazed, her demeanor the same as it had been at the start of the exercise.

"You're finished," she said with finality.

The image of Katarina kept sliding to the left. Lux closed her eyelids.

"Your body is weak," she said. "You see that?"

Lux spit a burst of sticky saliva from her lips. She looked up and nodded wearily while trying to push up with her arms. Her entire face was wet. As she pushed, her teeth clenched. It felt as though her body was triple its normal weight.

Katarina kneeled down beside her. Her red braid fell across her shoulder. The green, narrowed eyes spoked to her through the scar.

"Your body is your enemy. It is unreliable, just like your mind."

Lux nodded, managing to sit back on her knees. She let her head rest on her chest.

"It betrayed your secrets to me. It cried out for rescue while the body failed."

Lux closed her eyes. An emptiness like a terrible weight was inside her, a pain much greater than what her muscles felt. It hurt.

"Is your family alive?"

She shut the images out.

She raised her head.

"No. They're dead."

Katarina's fierce eyes were so engaged. It was too intimate.

"Neither body nor mind are your ally. They must be trained in the same way a general trains a soldier. Who then can you trust?"

Lux's tired eyes stood out from her fair-skinned face. The answer slipped easily out of her mouth.

"No one."

Something hurt very much, deep inside her.

Katarina pulled a sword from a sheath over her shoulder and drew it to Lux's face. Lux rose painfully to her feet as the weapon ascended beneath her chin.

"Wrong," said Katarina.

She lowered the blade and drew close to her. Her eyes revealed a deep concern that Lux had never realized had been there before.

"You must trust family," she stated firmly.

Lux could not reply. She was taken aback. Was the fog around her gone? The morning warmth had taken it away, but in her mind's weariness everything was still obscured.

"Family exceeds the body and the mind. It surpasses your very self. It is all you have that is worthy of your trust."

Lux could feel her face contort.

They both were silent. Katarina, apparently satisfied, turned and made to pick up the weapons strewn all over the ground.

"Go and bathe," she said casually. "You'll need rest."

Lux's head spun wearily on her neck, following Katarina. The morning light was seeping into the yard, diminishing the fog enough to reveal the wide courtyard and the trees around them. The wind felt colder though. Lux's voice was tired and low, like someone else.

"What was this all for? Was this just an interrogation?"

Katarina said nothing, apparently done with her. There were numerous weapons all over the place, most of them the metal rings Lux had been blocking. It looked as though an entire armory had been launched at Lux in a single morning.

Lux defeatedly staggered back to the mansion in pain. The polished marble and paintings were meaningless to her as she struggled to walk on her shaking legs.

She could feel an anger bubbling inside her. How could that woman talk to her about family? How could a murdering assassin instruct her like that? It made her sick.

But as she pulled herself up the staircase, she began to marvel at what had taken place. She had accomplished more than she could have possibly imagined she had been capable of. Stretched to the brink of collapse, she had performed physical feats that she hadn't been able to at the Academy.

It was this woman, Katarina, who had gotten it out of her.

Broken and shivering, she returned to her chamber. Pushing the bedroom door open, she fell to her knees onto an ornate circular rug in front of the bed. Beside her a thin beam of morning light seeped between the bay window curtains. 

When she had the strength, she raised her head and extended her shaking hand in front of her. A frail buzz preceded the typical glow upon her skin. Lux's eyes were wide with intent. After a moment, a small ball of light appeared, familiar. Her fingertips hovered beneath it, turning to cup it and pull it towards herself. It hummed weakly under her eyes, its light faltering, before collapsing back into darkness. Lux dropped onto her side and began to sob uncontrollably.


	8. The Secret Garden

Lux was jolted awake by the sound of cracking wood. For a brief moment, she thought she might have been somewhere else... she wished.

Daylight filled the bedroom, and below her window Katarina was training. Her continuous yells and cries preceded the sound of something being battered or destroyed. Lux rolled over to the other side of the bed, still in her sparring uniform.

From outside the bedroom, Lux thought she heard a quiet hiss, and a small knock came at her door. Cassiopeia, Katarina's sister, stepped into the room. She paused in the doorway and looked at Lux, then glanced towards the window through which the noise clamored.

"Whoever you are, I'll admit you've certainly gotten her riled up."

She was dressed much less elaborately than last night, wearing a simple green dress with frilled shoulders. As she stepped into the room, a wheeled, metal cart followed behind her, steam seeping from beneath it. Cassiopeia took the liberty of opening the curtains, causing the entire room to fill with light. She looked out below at the yard.

"You've stirred up some old memories."

"Memories?" Lux asked, squinting as she struggled to sit upright. Only now she realized how sore she was.

The servant rolled the cart beside Lux's bed and moved one of the chairs by the wall next to it. Cassiopeia sat down casually as the lid was removed, revealing a steaming breakfast and a pot of tea. The servant closed the door as he left. Cassiopeia inhaled sharply and turned expectantly to Lux.

Lux eyed the food longingly as Cassiopeia poured tea for them both.

"You're beaten up pretty bad," she noted, setting the hot cup on Lux's side of the cart. "But you look nothing like she did."

Lux eyed the food. The eggs were prepared the way she loved. She took the tea cup to be polite but kept glancing at the meal. Drinking the tea, her eyes closed and the hot liquid splashed in her mouth before swallowing. After a moment of nearly falling back asleep, Lux snapped back into the conversation.

"Like who? Katarina?"

Cassiopeia turned her head towards the window. Katarina's training continued in the background.

"Our father performed that old family ritual on Kat when she turned sixteen. The tradition is that you fight until you are unable too, at the complete mercy of your attacker. You can eat."

Cassiopeia nodded at the food, drinking her tea. She sat contemplatively as she did. Lux pressed the conversation.

"Katarina did... that? What she did to me?"

She could picture Katarina on the wood posts, being beaten and battered by weapons.

"It was her choice to do it. The superstition is that, at the moment of complete defeat, a hidden power is unlocked. She fought for fourteen hours against him... The sun had practically set when she finally collapsed, near death. I watched. I had never seen my father so ferocious towards her. I was only twelve at the time, and I remember her being so angry with herself when it was over." 

She sipped her tea.

"Not much has changed, I suppose... Eat!"

Lux slipped her feet off the side of the bed and picked up the utensils. She was incredibly hungry, but now she was fascinated. She had never thought of Katarina as a teenager, like her. Cassiopeia watched her as she ate. Lux kept looking up at her.

She was more beautiful than her sister. Her brown hair was fashioned to be up and curled. Her face seemed to glow with confidence and restraint. Her eyes were far calmer than her sister's, thoughtful, maybe even devious. Her mouth hadn't yet broken into a smile.

"Did she unlock a hidden power?" Lux pressed.

"Hmm?" Cassiopeia seemed distracted. "She had been training to perform her 'Shun-Po' technique for three years. She performed it successfully for the first time in that fight with father. It wasn't a trick. When your body is pushed to extremes like that, the chaff falls away. At least, that's what my father told her. 'Rend and abrade...' "

"What does that mean anyway?"

"It's an old poem," Cassiopeia sighed. Her spoon clanged against the inside of her cup.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Lux finally asked.

Cassiopeia's eyebrows raised.

"Oh, well you're our guest, for one. It's only polite to treat you as such. And I suppose, given how horribly beaten up you are, a little pampering might help with your recovery."

"That's thoughtful of you," Lux actually smiled. This woman was pleasant to talk to. She reminded her of the girls she grew up with in Demacia.

"Besides, now's our chance to get to know each other a little better."

Lux bit into a slice of buttered toast.

"So... You're a mage," Cassiopeia said plainly.

"Yes."

"We don't practice magic in this household. What does she want with you?"

"I don't know," Lux answered truthfully.

"When I returned last night," Cassiopeia continued. "My sister was quite awake. In fact, I'm not even sure she slept. Even for her, that's unusual."

Lux ate silently, unsure of how to respond. Cassiopeia sighed aggressively.

"So... What is the training for? Did she say anything to you this morning?"

Lux paused with her fork in her mouth. She had spent the last hour trying to press those memories out of her mind.

"I'm not being too nosey, am I?" she added. "You must understand she doesn't talk to me, and I'm her sister..."

"She told me..." Lux said between bites. "I couldn't trust myself, body or mind. That's all she said."

Cassiopeia looked intently at her. She appeared engaged yet somewhat distant.

Lux swallowed. "According to her, only family is worth trusting."

The Noxian woman didn't smile, but after a moment she let out a soft laugh, shaking her head.

"Unbelievable, Katarina," she said, rising to her feet. She walked over to the window. "Unbelievable." 

Lux continued eating her breakfast, looking expectantly at Cassiopeia for elaboration. The calm woman stood at the window, watching Katarina in silence for over a minute.

"Thank you for the breakfast," Lux finally said, having cleaned her plate. "Or lunch..."

"After all these years..."

Cassiopeia seemed to break out of thought and turned sharply to Lux.

"You are a guest of the Du Couteau's, but if she keeps you here, remember this. You are not welcome here, not without the consent of my father. And she knows that."

Lux didn't respond, sitting silently upright on the bed. She wanted to ask her when the General would return to the manor, but she decided against it. Cassiopeia glanced one more time at the window before grimacing and strutting out of the room. She paused briefly at the door, still not smiling.

"It was nice talking with you."

The door slammed.

Lux sat ghost-like on her bed for minutes. She didn't have the energy to move, but she was unwilling to sleep. She was unsettled. Her face stung. She glanced at her cold tea.

Suddenly, something dropped into the fireplace.

A tremendous thud brought ash billowing into the room, covering the carpet. A small, squeaking cough emanated from the hearth.

"Ack! Gross! I mean, I meant to do that!"

A small, furry person rolled onto the floor, scratching at his soot-covered fur. He shook his head, throwing dust into the air, before looking up at Lux with large, yellow eyes.

"I found you!"

Lux lurched forward in surprise, getting quickly to her feet. Instinctively, she ran to the window and shut the curtains, darkening the room. Looking at the yordle more closely, she saw he was wearing a sackcloth around his neck, with a tail hanging out the back like a cape. His fur was an orangish-red color with white striped around his chest. He had a full head of bright red hair over a pair of enormous furry ears. Around his waist, all he wore was a belt with a tiny sheath.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" the little yordle asked. "I'm Cecil, of course!"

Lux stared quizzically at the blackened figure.

"Bartok's nephew! Didn't he tell you about me?"

"Oh!" Lux said, not really remembering. "There are, like, fourteen of you. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you!"

"Shh!" Lux shuffled down to his level. The entire floor was covered in soot. "Cecil, this is no place for children. If they find you here, they'll kill you."

"I agree," said the filthy hero, grabbing her hand with his paw. "Quickly, let's escape before they find us."

"No," Lux said quickly, flustered. She released his grip. "I can't leave, Cecil."

"Why not?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Aren't you their prisoner?"

"No, I'm... not their prisoner," Lux tried to explain. She grabbed a nearby towel and attempted to try and clean up the mess. "Not really. I came here on purpose."

"Ohhhhh," Cecil seemed to understand. "That explains why you weren't at the prison with Razik."

"Exactly," said Lux. "Wait. Cecil, why was Reg-... Why was Razik in prison? Don't touch that!"

Cecil froze his hand over a silver hand-mirror.

"Didn't you know?" he asked. "They arrested him for stealing from that library."

Lux gasped. "Katarina must have found out he helped me. Oh my gosh, how long has he been there?"

"Since you left! My uncle didn't know where you'd gone... Razik went back to the library to look for you, and that's when they arrested him."

Stupid, Lux told herself. She hadn't given Reginald any warning! She hadn't even said goodbye, and now he was paying the price for all the risks she'd just taken. She had gotten so wrapped up in her own mission...

"So you... work for the Sprig?"

"Who?" asked Cecil. "This is a secret rescue mission, Sinistra, formulated by yours truly."

Cecil drew the smallest blade Lux had ever seen. He began to swing it around recklessly.

Lux pushed him back towards the fireplace, careful to avoid his blade. He was making more of a mess even while she was trying to clean it. Her muscles ached. 

"Please go. They'll find you if you stay here, and now I've got to clean all this up."

"But I need your help to rescue Razik!" Cecil chimed, disappointment in his childish voice.

"I'm not leaving, Cecil. I'll figure out how to help him. You should go back to your family."

Cecil shook his head. "No way. With you here in this pit of vipers, you need a bodyguard for sure!"

"This isn't a game, Cecil. They'll kill you on sight."

"Not if I kill them first with my 'Yordle Strike'! Yah!"

He swung his weapon with as much elegance as a turkey. Lux put her hands on her forehead.

"Keep it down!" she whispered nervously. "I need to stay here, and you need to get out of sight. Wait..."

She turned Cecil forcibly around to focus on her. It took him a moment. His eyes finally stopped wandering and landed on her. He grinned.

"Can you get a message to Razik?"

Cecil beamed. "Sure, there's a passage through the catacombs that goes right under the prison!"

"The catacombs! You went through those?" Lux marveled. "But I thought they're full of monsters..."

"Oh yeah!" said Cecil. "It's very dangerous. That's where the Bonethief lives! There's lots of monsters, but none of them are as strong as the Bonethief! That scares most of them off... It leaves me alone though."

"So you can deliver a message... OK, tell him..." Lux paused. She pictured his face. Thinking about him in prison was unbearable. "Tell him I'm sorry... that I'll keep him safe..."

"You want me to keep an eye on him for you?" Cecil volunteered. 

"Yes! Oh, but Cecil be careful."

"Careful is my middle name!" the Yordle forgot to whisper before clambering back up the fireplace.

Lux rose wearily to her feet, listening to the scratching sound coming from the wall as it faded away upwards. She did her best to use a small, magical gust of wind to push the ash back into the fireplace. The sounds of combat outside distracted her.

Still in her sparring uniform, sans shoes, she hobbled out of the bedroom, making her way back to the courtyard to confront Katarina.

The courtyard was filled with the sound of birds chirping and wind blowing, but that was all muted by the loud clangs of daggers and the yells of the assassin. Katarina's hair was unbraided and wild. She threw a blade that struck one wooden target, ricocheted into another, then another. It might have impressed Lux, but she had slowly grown more and more angry as she got closer to Katarina.

"Sinistra!" she called out, seeing Lux approach. She stopped, leaning against a wooden post. The whole lawn was littered in broken pieces of wood. "I'm surprised to see you out of bed. Did I go too soft on you?"

"You followed me."

"What?"

Lux walked right up to her, her bare feet tripping on the pieces of wood.

"When we fought... at Paul's Poison, and you let me go. You followed me."

Katarina laughed. "Of course I followed you. I thought that was obvious. You went right back to that filthy hovel where you were shacking up with that librarian."

Lux flinched. "What? We weren't..."

"Don't play dumb," said Katarina. "You were using that young foreigner to get into Blacktorch. A single mage can't break its runic seals. He let you in."

Katarina, apparently not satisfied to chat idly, picked up a handful of daggers from a rack of weapons and started throwing them at a target about a hundred feet away. She threw with her whole body and yelled, hitting the mark each time.

"It made things a lot easier, not turning you in for your crimes, thanks to him. Once I identified their missing spells, I simply had him imprisoned instead."

Lux clenched her fists. Her suspicions were confirmed, and Reginald was rotting in prison now while she slept in a luxurious mansion; and it was her fault.

"He was innocent!"

Katarina paused. "Huh?"

"He didn't know I was stealing," she lied. "I convinced him that I was studying. He shouldn't be punished!"

Katarina approached Lux. "So let me get this straight. I save your life and get someone to take the fall for you, and now you're upset about that?"

"He's not taking the fall. You imprisoned an innocent man!"

Katarina looked annoyed. "Look, Sinistra. Maybe on the streets the law seemed optional to you, but I am a soldier. Justice is always served when a crime is committed."

Lux was flabbergasted. "And it doesn't bother you at all that you've put someone in prison that doesn't deserve it?"

"When there is a price, it must be paid. That's the law."

Lux could not believe the definition of justice she was hearing.

"Besides, assisting a crime, knowingly or not, is still punishable," Katarina sighed, bored. "Maybe I should get some books for you on Noxian law. You know how to read more than spellbooks, right? I'd assumed that."

Lux's brow furrowed. "Yes. I know how to read Common!"

"Don't get sharp with me, Sinny," she raised a dagger, then lowered it with a smile. "You know what I think?"

Lux's guard lowered.

"You have feelings for this foreigner."

"No!" Lux put her hands on her hips. "Of course not."

"Look, kid," I was young and foolish like you once. "It's perfectly natural to get attached to the people you fool around with."

Lux could feel the blood rushing to her face.

"But his life isn't your concern. He makes his choices. You make yours. He was stupid for squandering his position at the library for a street rat like you. You were fortunate in earning my good opinion, and that's why he's in jail and you're not."

He's in jail because of you! Lux wanted to scream.

"We're done talking about this," Katarina said, turning away. "You go rest."

"I'm done resting," Lux shook her head, clearly agitated. "Give me something to hit."

Katarina betrayed a small smile.

"Your magic is too defensive to be effective in combat. I'm going to buy you a wand. Help me with these."

She helped Katarina clean up the courtyard, which involved disposing of a lot of broken pieces of wood and dented metal. They stockpiled all of the weapons in the nearby armory, which was laden with exquisite armor and weapons of questionable origin.

She would have to find a way to rescue Reginald. She didn't know how, but it had to be done. She had to make it up to him...

Afterwards, Katarina led Lux to a very large bath hall, where she promptly stripped and resigned herself to a large, bubbling tub. Lux hesitated when she was asked to join, but complied. 

Her muscles tightened as she entered the water, then slowly melted. The quiet pain she had been dealing with all day was dulled.

But worry for Reginald's safety was still gnawing at her.

"This must be an interesting experience for you," Katarina chatted, eyes closed, head resting against the stone edge. "Coming from complete poverty to luxury..."

Lux said nothing. She noticed that, aside from the scar on Katarina's eye, her body was seemingly without blemish. She started to suspect that the scar on her face might hold some significance.

"Look," Katarina raised her head. "If you're going to be my minion we might as well get to know each other."

"I'd rather not talk about my past," Lux said quietly, sinking slightly into the water.

"Well, I'm sure you know all about me already. It's only fair, Sinistra."

"I..." Lux hesitated. "I know you're a League champion and all, but I don't actually watch the League of Legends."

Katarina stopped soaking her hair and gave Lux a quizzical look.

"You're serious? How is that possible?"

"Watching sports isn't really a priority when you're living on the streets trying to survive..."

"Hmm, that's true. Huh." Katarina seemed amused.

"Is that funny?" Lux muttered. Katarina's lack of concern for the poor annoyed her.

"It's just that I'm so used to everyone knowing everything about me..." Katarina sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"You might think it sounds great, being loved by all of Noxus. But the Institute knows everything about you and freely offers whatever knowledge they want. They enter your mind and have access to your memories and your desires."

"That's... disturbing," said Lux. "I had no idea that was how the League operated."

"We're not supposed to tell people," Katarina said, putting her hands casually behind her head. "Whatever. Next time there's a game, they'll probably learn all about you and all the things I've done with you."

"I didn't realize... They have so much power over us then."

Katarina leaned forward. "Imagine a world with no secrets, where all the information is methodically recorded and kept. And no one has access to it; no one but the Institute of War."

"That's chilling," Lux acknowledged.

"It's dangerous!" Katarina growled. "How can Noxus defend itself when the Institute can provide our enemies with every bit of knowledge we have to give? Ever since I joined the League, I haven't received any classified information from the High Command, other than what Noxus wants the Institute to know..."

Lux's heart sank into her stomach. She didn't know. Her father was a general of the High Command, but she didn't know anything about their plans. Was Reginald was in jail for nothing?

"What's wrong with you?" Katarina's brow lowered. "You look upset."

"Oh," Lux snapped out of it. "Sorry, it's just... You're such a great fighter, and you're father's a general. It doesn't seem right."

Katarina exhaled through her nose.

"Why did you even join the League, then?" Lux asked. "You must despise it."

"No..." said Katarina, wading into the center of the pool. "I love it!"

Her eyes seemed to dance as she talked about the League.

"Every battle is a new lesson. Every day my techniques are perfected. I fight against the greatest warriors in Valoran. All the while, the people of Noxus are chanting my name, knowing that the weight of their kingdom's fate rests on my shoulders!"

She seemed to come back down to earth.

"I've accepted my fate. I serve my nation in the way that it desires."

There was a brief moment of silence. Lux decided to change the topic.

"So everyone knows... about your scar?"

Katarina reacted negatively to this question. She stood up and got out of the pool without looking at her, grabbing a towel and her clothes. A trail of dripping water followed her over the brown stone floor.

"We start again tomorrow morning, so get some rest," she muttered gruffly as she walked out of the bath house.

Lux wanted to know.

She sat in the bubbling water, imagining what it would be like to fight in the League of Legends.

\---------------

Katarina was nowhere to be found after that. Dinner served alone in her room, and afterwards Lux made her way downstairs to the Du Couteau library to look up all she could about the High Command and the League of Legends...

If Katarina didn't know anything, her father would. She needed to prepare for when they would inevitably meet. Like Cassiopeia said, he'd be the one to decide if she stayed here or not. She didn't even know what he looked like, but the idea of meeting him was terrifying.

She set aside some books on Noxian law for reading later. Maybe they could help her free Reginald from prison.

After an hour of searching, she found a tome concerning Noxus's history post-Runic: "Noxus Ascendant". It was leather bound with a red seal, the same one she'd seen Katarina looking at last night. Looking at its index, she found the name 'Du Couteau' mentioned frequently.

According to records, Marcus Du Couteau had been a successful Noxian general over the last fifty years and was promoted to the High Command by Boram Darkwill, the current leader of Noxus. Under his command, Du Couteau led Noxus on some of its most successful military campaigns, leading his nation to incredible wealth and influence over the surrounding nations.

After the decimation brought on by two particularly devastating Rune Wars, the League of Legends was established. An alliance of Runeterra's most proficient summoners, their power was such that they coerced the nations of Demacia and Noxus, centuries-old rivals, to submit to their call for peace.

Lux skimmed ahead, looking again for 'Du Couteau'. But the amount of information diminished quickly after a brief mention of his involvement in foreign affairs. Either the High Command was being secretive about General Du Couteau, or he did far less than she had assumed.

The next major event involving the League of Legends and Noxus was the invasion of Ionia, a peaceful island province to the northeast. The history read like Noxian propaganda.

"The southern states of Ionia currently enjoy wealth and prosperity after Noxian generals seized control of their governments. While many Noxians lost their lives against the rebellious natives, the nation enjoys peace after a League of Legends match secured Noxus rightful ownership of the land. Chancellor Malek Hawkmoon, after a successful military campaign, serves as the new ruler of southern Ionia."

Of course this was conjecture. Ionia was brutally invaded by Noxus, without warning, and seized control of the nation through military force. As for the League of Legends game it referred to, Lux recalled rumors that the outcome had been fixed.

She scoured further in the book, but to no avail. Lux found no further mention of Marcus, nor any of Katarina...

The library door swung open, brighter light filling the hall.

Talon appeared in the doorway, still wearing his armor and bearing the large arm-length blade.

"You!" he growled at Lux, approaching her.

Lux jumped to her feet.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked.

"I- I'm,"Lux stammered. "Katarina brought me here. I'm... I'm a guest."

"I mean in the library," he responded gruffly. "What are you looking for?"

"Please don't hurt me!" Lux cried, her back against one of the bookshelves. She stared warily at the blade that was only recently against her throat.

Talon leaned his head mockingly. "I'm not gonna cut you. Calm down."

"Put away your blade then. Please."

His arm rotated so that his palm was facing outward in a harmless motion.

"It's attached to my arm."

"Oh," said Lux, relaxing a bit. 

"Why are you here?"

"I was only reading about the history of the family. I... don't know much about the Du Couteau's."

"Have you tried asking 'em?"

Lux closed the book and pushed it away from herself. Talon reported directly to the General. He might know even more than Katarina did, but she could tell that he didn't trust her.

"Honestly, I was looking for something specific, and Katarina wouldn't tell me."

"That's a good sign that you shouldn't be asking, then."

For a soldier, Lux thought, this guy was extremely rude. She stood up. He was standing beside the table, and his blade was far too close to her for comfort.

"Well, apparently, it's common knowledge. It's about Katarina's scar..."

Talon turned his head away slightly. "You don't know about that?"

Lux shook her head timidly.

"Dumb kid. You think you'll find that in a history book?" He looked over his shoulder slightly, then he sighed. "Yeah. She's pretty touchy on it. You seriously haven't heard?"

Lux shrugged. "Look, I'm ignorant, alright? Just tell me."

Talon hesitated, then turned towards the exit. "Yeah, I'll tell you... You should know."

The long strips of leather-bound blades bounced behind him, surprisingly silent. She followed him, leaving the history book on the table.

He led her around the outer garden of the mansion, framed between the wall of the manor and the tall hedges that hid the other upper-class structures in this area.

"Katarina could have been whatever she wanted to be, from birth," Talon began, walking along the path. "Her father was very successful as a general, and she was naturally talented in combat. Whenever an opportunity came her way she turned it down. She wouldn't even talk about higher education. All she wanted was to become an assassin like her father was."

Lux watched Talon. He talked about the Du Couteau's like he respected them. There was no criticism in the way he described the events. Wasn't he the one that had been forced into subservience by General Du Couteau, just like Katarina had with her?

"Well, she got her wish. After years of training under her father, she was given her first assignment: kill a certain, low-ranking Demacian officer. An assassin doesn't ask questions. They are given their mark, and they proceed."

Lux thought of her brother, Garen, who served in Demacia's armed forces as an officer...

They stopped in a smaller garden that looked unkept. Sunset had passed. A light mist of water began to fall as the sky became covered in clouds.

"As it turned out, a Demacian general arrived the same evening that Katarina had snuck into the enemy camp. She must have seen this as an opportunity to prove her value, because she murdered him instead."

"This doesn't seem like the kind of story that would be public knowledge..." Lux observed.

"I agree. Let me finish," he looked scornfully at her before pausing briefly and continuing. "Well, that officer she failed to kill? The next day, he led a devastating attack on Noxian forces. The casualties were terrible."

"And she took the blame," Lux finished.

"No," Talon corrected, drops of moisture clinging to his armor. "That's not how things work in the military. The blame fell squarely on the commanding officer of the campaign, her father."

Lux was taken aback. Talon continued.

"Of course, Katarina realized her mistake and apparently went back to finish the job, but the damage was already done. Not following orders was a very costly mistake... for the General."

"Did she find the officer?"

"Of course she did. She did the deed she should have done and came back with that scar."

"But I still don't understand," said Lux. "Why does everyone know this story?"

Talon put his foot on a stone bench and spit. He looked up at the sky. A light drizzle was falling over them. 

"The Institute of War put the whole story in a promotional magazine article for the League of Legends. It sure was a popular story. It got a lot of Noxians interested in the League."

Lux put her hand to her mouth. She remembered that Katarina had told her that the League could access memories and penetrate the mind.

"Like I said... very costly. Maybe to her it's an important reminder, but to the rest of the world it's a mark. No matter what she does for Noxus or for her father, everyone's going to remember what she did. Even if she got rid of the scar, it wouldn't matter."

Lux could hear the distant sound of thunder. She had a hard time not feeling sorry for Katarina, even though she hated her for who she was.

"And you," Talon continued, turning to her. He stood nearly a foot taller than her, water dripping down his stone-cold face. "You're her next big mistake."

Lux's throat tightened. 

"I don't know what she has planned with someone like you," he growled. "But you don't belong here. I'm no psychic, but I'm thinking you've never killed a person."

He got up close to her face. His face was porous and rough. Lux did her best not to budge, but she could feel her skin itch from perspiration. His breath was heavy on her.

"You're just a thief. Sneaking into a house of killers. You don't belong here."

Lux bravely challenged him in a quiet voice.

"You thought I was a spy."

The assassin raised his head defiantly. 

"Pff...."

He walked away amidst the sound of thunder clapping, disappearing behind a wet hedge. Alone in the rain, Lux stood in the small garden and glanced around at the pools of water in the gravel.

She was about to head after Talon to get out of the rain, but she spied a curious ivy-covered gate between two of the hedges. The metal rods of it were rusty. It looked out of place. Curious, Lux decided to see where it led.

The gate creaked open, dripping water as it shook, revealing a very small area that was overgrown. Everywhere weeds were popping out of the gravel. Most of the benches and statues within it were broken or knocked over. They were also child-sized.

It had been a playground once, she realized, a long time ago. The statues were friendly, albeit ruined. Broken toys revealed themselves from beneath the gravel and under the weeds. And in the corner of the garden there was an old, painted playhouse.

She approached the house, which looked very nice on the outside, pale blue with white trim. The colors had faded with age.

Peering inside, she found its contents wrecked. Broken pots and dolls littered the dirty floor. Cobwebs crowded the corners of the interior. The ceiling dripped rainwater. 

She stepped inside, careful where she put her feet.

It was difficult to see, but it looked like most of the damage had been done intentionally. A second look revealed that shelves had been smashed. 

Lux produced a magical light, brightening the garden house. The globe of light flickered as water dripped through it.

Now she could clearly see scars on the wood. The evidence of slashing knives covered the walls and shelves. A large drop of water hit her head. Raising the light, Lux looked up at the ceiling, which had once been decorated with flower wallpaper.

Etched on the ceiling was a deep series of scraping cuts with bits of wallpaper still hanging from its edges. Large drops of water bled out of them. Lux held the light higher to see the extent of it.

Spelled out in the tortured wood, covering the entirety of it, was the word "MISTAKE".


	9. Noxian Diplomacy

Lux put her bare feet on the cold hardwood, getting out of bed. She was wearing the silk pajamas that had been left for her. Her whole body ached from the last three days of training in the rain that still pattered on the roof above her. Clutching her arms to her chest, she approached the bay window on the other side of the room..

It was still raining. She shivered thinking about spending another day sparring with Katarina out in the courtyard. The sound of a rough, howling wind was muffled by the thick double-pane glass, against which the heavy rainfall battered. Every so often, a force of wind rattled the window. 

She stared out into the night through her reflection. She felt wide-awake. Something had been bothering her. 

In Demacia her Luminosity had always been so consistent and seemingly boundless. The light she summoned from within herself had felt powerful and effortless to call upon. But three days ago under Katarina's relentless assault it had dried up, leaving her feeling empty and powerless. She had beaten her so ruthlessly to the point where the light could no longer help her. Lux had seen her own limitation. Ever since that fight, her light magic hadn't felt as strong and reliable as it once was.

And when she'd come to Noxus, there was this feeling that she could take on anything, that any obstacle would be overcome through perseverance. It was easy to stay positive. Here, in this place, she didn't feel that way. She was afraid here.

She had never really dwelt on death much, she realized. Now she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Lux gasped. There was a figure out there.

Through a break in the rain, she saw a tall silhouette standing on the rooftops of Noxus, long streaks of hair blowing in the wind, head lowered.

Lux stepped away from the window as the vision vanished. She thought it might have been a trick on her eyes or that she was dreaming.

But in a flash of lightning the window suddenly swung open, revealing an armed man in a large cloak. A tall collar hid the man's face as he turned and quickly closed the window behind him, water dripping onto the ground. He rushed past Lux, who had fallen startled onto the bed, and quickly locked the bedroom door. In a panic, Lux summoned a ball of light over the room, lighting the dark stranger. The magic hummed frantically.

The figure paused, hand still on the doorknob. Lux watched him, wide-eyed, observing his long, pale-colored hair set against the dripping cloak. The bright light fell over his face with a strong contrast of dark and light. She recognized the decorative rapier handle on his hip.

"Ayer?" she whispered.

The man turned his head, revealing the sharp profile of his face. It was Ayer.

"Luxanna," he breathed quietly. It was the first time she thought she'd heard her own name in a long time.

"Ayer!" she said, sitting warily on the bed. The ball of light faded.

"It took me a lot of effort to find that you were here," he said in a quiet voice, standing by the door. He glanced at the warm coals in the fireplace. "Even seeing you here it's hard to believe."

"I followed your advice," Lux smiled.

"Yes. Yes, you did," he said, still glancing around the room. "And what an accomplishment. You'll have to tell me how you managed to do it. But first..."

Lux found herself staring at his face. It was slender and hard, yet his eyes and lips appeared soft. He produced a small booklet from his pocket and flipped it open. He paused.

"Do you understand the danger you're in?"

Lux nodded her head rapidly and exhaled. Her arms clung to her pajama legs. Ayer lowered the booklet.

"Don't be afraid, Lux."

He walked up to her and ran his gloved hand over the top of her head. Lux braced and closed her eyes. The feeling of his hand caused her to relax a bit.

"No one has ever accomplished what you have. You have the ability to change the course of history, to stop General Du Couteau."

After days of unending physical abuse, a gentle human touch was such a comfort. Lux opened her eyes as he removed his hand and stepped away.

" I have come to believe that Noxus will begin a new military campaign soon. Have you heard anything about it?"

He flipped through his notebook.

"No, I'm afraid I haven't," Lux answered quietly. "Katarina hasn't said anything to me about the military or her father."

"You haven't met General Du Couteau?"

"No, I haven't seen him or heard anything about him yet," Lux said regrettably. "And I don't think he talks to Katarina about the High Command.."

"That's unfortunate but understandable," Ayer said, putting away the booklet and resting his hand on the sword hilt. "As a League Champion, any information supplied to her is likely compromised. Speaking of which, rumor has it that Noxus is petitioning to elect a new champion to the League."

"Why does that matter?" she asked.

He chuckled. "It matters if you're a Noxian. The High Command wants more eyes inside the Institute of War. They want more sway over the outcomes of its matches. Frankly, they're under-represented in the League right now. They were a little late to the game when it was first established, as I recall. But enough about the League, tell me about Katarina. How did you manage to earn the confidence of such a clever woman?"

Lux rubbed her hands together on the edge of the bed. Ayer wandered over to the lit fireplace.

"Honestly, I wish I knew. She just... seemed to take a liking to me... I guess."

"Strange. And she doesn't suspect anything?"

"She doesn't seem to. She actually seems fond of me, but I'm not so sure about Talon. He and Katarina's sister don't trust me."

Ayer's silhouette bristled in front of the fire at the mention of Talon's name.

"She bought me all this equipment. She's training me. I get the impression that she has jobs she wants me to do for her, but she isn't satisfied with the way I fight yet."

"Interesting," he acknowledged, turning back towards her. Ayer actually smiled, before glancing towards the locked door. He walked up to her.

"I can't linger, as much as I'd love to figure out how you've managed to charm Katarina. So you really haven't discovered her intentions for bringing you here?"

He kneeled down in front of her and put his gloved hands on her shoulders, drawing her slightly closer. She looked into his face. It suddenly became hard to put together a reply.

"No... It really is... a mystery to me."

Ayer stood up, his cloak billowing as he turned. "I would consider it a priority, for your own safety, to convince her to entrust you with that specific information. And Luxanna..."

"Yes?" she stood up, realizing that she was just starting to feel a little safer.

"Talon is a major threat to you. I cannot emphasize that enough. He has been hunting me for years, and I know him very well. As the General's servant he will follow Katarina's orders, but should he discover your true intentions your life will most certainly be in danger. Do not give him any reason to suspect you, or there's no telling what harm he'll do you to get the information he wants."

He lowered his head, hands resting on the window handles.

"You are in an exceptional position, Lux. This is our chance. I will do everything I can to protect you, but I don't think I can protect you from him."

He turned one last time towards her. Lightning flashed for just a moment, covering his whole body in white, and Lux thought it looked like a halo of three lights hovered over his head.

"That night, you spoke about a light inside of you," he continued. "I believe you have something very special... Lux."

Thunder rolled. Lux stood up and walked towards the window. She didn't want him to leave yet.

"I believe everyone has that light, Ayer."

Lux now wondered if Ayer was even his real name. She wondered what his story was.

Ayer didn't reply. He merely took Lux's hand and held it for a moment before throwing open the window and disappearing into the rain, leaving Lux with only the noise of a relentless storm.

\---------------------

"Who is this girl?"

Katarina put her arm around the disgruntled, rotund mage in the bright green robes. They were on the front steps of the Du Couteau manor. Katarina had brought Lux to the door to meet this man here, who had just arrived. The ground was still wet from the recent rain.

"Sinistra, this is Boaz. He's one of Witherwood's brightest minds."

She emphasized the word 'brightest' with evident sarcasm, rubbing her hand over the man's cue-ball head. The mage braced angrily.

"What is the meaning of this?" he sputtered. "Why was I summoned here?"

Lux could have sworn he'd seen this man before...

"Am I being allowed in or not?" he demanded.

Katarina ignored him, crossing her arms. "He also happens to be severely indebted to the Du Couteau family," she bared her teeth at him with a smile.

"Shh!" he hissed, looking nervously over his shoulder at the servants who had escorted him. "Look, you've humiliated me enough, haven't you? I helped you coddle those merchants for three hours! Then you left me out of nowhere to babysit them and never came back!"

Katarina glanced at Lux. That was how she recognized him! He was the man that was with Katarina at the tavern.

"Poor Boaz," Katarina cooed, leaning over in front of him. "But I do need another favor from you. Won't you oblige us?"

Boaz involuntarily started staring at Katarina's chest.

"Well, I-"

Katarina's face transformed into a poisonous frown.

"Or should I inform my father that a collection is in order?" She drew a blade and held it to his chin. His eyes rejoined the conversation.

"No!" he coughed. "No, that won't be necessary, um, my lady. I'm happy to oblige you."

Lux was surprised that such an apparently wise and powerful mage of Noxus was at Katarina's beck and call.

"You will accompany Miss Sinistra to the Ivory Ward. She is in need of a powerful staff. Now, I'm no 'Magical Laureate of the Year', but in my opinion she's one of the most proficient mages I've ever met."

Boaz bristled, now roaming his eyes over Lux. "This child? I've never even heard of you."

"Oh, I'm pretty certain she hasn't attended any of your distinguished schools," Katarina smirked. "Sinistra, come here."

She waved Boaz off down the steps. The man looked agitated. 

"I may be indebted to your father, but I owe this peasant girl nothing! At least let me have my dignity."

Katarina sighed, turning around. "Talon, can you please accompany Boaz and Sinistra to the Ivory Ward?"

Talon appeared in the doorway, silently nodding. Boaz, looking helplessly at the bladed man, walked in defeat down the steps to the carriage that had been called for them, muttering under his breath. 

Katarina turned to Lux and handed her a money pouch.

"This should be sufficient. If there's anything else you need for your training don't hesitate to purchase it."

Lux took the pouch hesitantly.

"So you're not going to give me the credit mark?"

Katarina looked like she was distracted, as if her mind had already moved on to more important tasks.

"Credit? What are you talking about?"

"The Snake of Du Couteau," Lux reminded her. "I used it to buy these clothes I'm wearing."

Katarina stared blankly at her for a moment then burst into a smile that changed from a giggle to an outburst of laughter. Boaz and Talon looked up from beside the carriage.

"Forgive me, Sinistra," Katarina composed herself finally, seeming to enjoy Lux's ignorance. "It's really funny. That wasn't credit. Don't you know why the peasants fondly refer to it as 'The Snake of Du Couteau'?"

"No," Lux replied slowly.

Katarina laughed again, more mildly this time.

"It's a sign of tribute," she explained. "Gods, imagine the scandal if you tried to show that to someone at the Ivory Ward..."

"I don't understand," Lux continued, failing to grasp the concept. Katarina simmered down, perhaps losing patience with her.

"What makes you think the House of Du Couteau would keep a line of credit with peasants? Everything you have on your person is a tribute to the power of the High Command."

Lux finally understood, and she was horrified.

"Have fun at the Ward," Katarina finished, seemingly amused with Lux. She turned to leave. "You too, Boaz."

The fat mage chuckled and waved with a friendly, submissive grin, glancing constantly at Talon, who leered over him. They got into the carriage and sat in silence, Lux sitting beside Talon, across from Boaz. Whenever Talon looked out the window, the mage scowled at her.

The city of Noxus proper was bright. It was the first opportunity for Lux to see it in the daylight. Its richness and splendor was evident, with flags flying proudly over residencies of repute, battalions of soldiers in red capes performing their exercises, numbers of other carriages hiding politicians, officers, professors, doctors... All of Noxus's wealth seemed congregated in a single location, atop this mountain in the shape of a skull.

When the carriage reached its destination, the mage pushed forward and jumped out first, tassels swinging. Lux walked behind him as he hurried at a brisk walk towards the Ivory Ward, intent not to acknowledge her. She looked behind her to see Talon casually follow them.

The Ivory Ward was one of Valoran's most wonderous sites. All manner of fine goods were sold here. There were restaurants, tailors, bakeries, live performances... The place was bustling with the Noxian upper-class, a symbol of the wealth of Noxus. It was such a completely different world than the marketplaces in the rest of the nation. It was like another city altogether, and it was very beautiful.

Concrete fountains, marble arches and statues, limestone terraces and exotic plants decorated the entrance of the Ward. Boaz approached what at first glance was a passing soldier. The guard looked the two of them over before nodding in approval, apparently allowing them entrance. There were many people walking in and out.

After they crossed under the wide arch gate, Talon was no longer visible behind them, but he was surely still following the two of them. Boaz took this opportunity to take his frustrations out on Lux at last. His voice was half muttering to himself, half interrogation. He talked without pause, walking onward, barely looking at her.

"I don't know who you think you are, pretending to be some kind of proficient mage. How fortunate for you that Katarina is so ignorant of magic, because not even the will of the High Command could sneak you past Witherwood's prestigious arcane panels. Do you even know the five basic laws of magic? Of course you wouldn't. Oh no, there's Professor Rand! This way. People are going to think I'm related to you. You're young enough to be my niece or something... Gods, what has my life come to? Do you even know how much wands cost? What could possibly inhabit that woman's mind to throw money at some street rat like you? You know what? I'll bet she's doing this to mock me. She knows I have no money, so she's throwing hers around in my face! Thank the gods I'm divorced. I can just see my wife mocking me for this... She wouldn't let me hear the end of this. Every time we came here..."

Lux eventually tuned him out. She was starting to get a headache.

All around her were the wealthy patrons of Noxus and their children, who played in a grass courtyard in the Ward's center without a care in the world. Did these children understand that their wealth stood on the backs of the poor and desperate? Did they trust the High Command the same way their parents did.

"You're pretty," said a little girl with short brown hair.

Lux stopped and looked incredulously at the innocent child. She couldn't help but smile and lean over at her.

"Not as pretty as you," she replied. "What's your name?"

"Amy," the girl replied, looking embarrassed. "Are you an angel?"

This was the most adorable girl Lux had ever met. Their precious moment was immediately ruined.

"What are you doing? Standing here, talking to children. Go back to your mother, girl. Don't talk to the underrot!" Boaz scolded the girl, ushering her away.

The girl's expression changed immediately. She gasped and turned in the other direction, in a hurry.

Lux was bewildered and angry. "What did you call me?"

"What, underrot? It's what you are, the scum under Noxus's boot, chewing away at the prestige and exemplar of Noxus. Just because you've squirmed your way up here doesn't change who you are."

Lux gave Boaz a look of death. She couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Our children are taught at a young age not to associate with you filth."

Lux looked back, trying to find the sweet girl. She had returned to a group of her friends, who were now staring at them.

"Oh gods, let's just move along before you cause a scene," Boaz wailed, scurrying on in an attempt not to be seen.

They came to a shop marked with a moon crescent and a smiling sun. These were ancient symbols of magic that Lux recognized from her schooling in Demacia. Inside was a marvel, a trove of magical artifacts the likes of which Lux had never seen before. Glowing weapons of enchantment, rune medallions, a glass case full of scrolls... It was like a candy store for mages.

"Ah, professor," said the slender man in the back of the shop. He had a curly black beard that he started twisting in his finger and wore a tall and pointed blue hat. He approached them as Boaz sidled his way into a remote section of the store. "What a surprise!"

"Ian," Boaz said with some relief. "I expected your father to be here."

"Ah, he's retired, sadly," the man smiled. "And he's left the place to me!"

"Wonderful. Congratulations, Ian," Boaz nodded with relief. "Look, I've decided it's time to get myself a new wand."

"Really?" Ian frowned. "But sir, isn't yours a heralded artifact? It was given to you by my father at your award ceremony last year. You want to replace it?"

Boaz started laughing defensively. "Aha, of course not, my boy. I wouldn't dream of selling it for petty cash. No, this wand, it's actually, uh, a gift for this very gifted student... uh..."

"Sinistra," Lux finished.   
"Yes, Sinistra! Haha!" Boaz put his arm around her and squeezed her with a violent shake. "She is the daughter of a good friend of mine, a duke of Zaun."

"Wow," Ian looked impressed. "Which one?"

"Ah... You know, you wouldn't know him. He's... new... So! About those wands?"

"Well you're certainly right in coming here, sir." His voice had a bit of a drawl to it. He led them over to a curtained section of the shop. Moving to the center of the room, he waved his hand over a small orb on a pedestal, causing it to glow with purple light.

"Now, there's an old saying," Ian began, turning to Lux. "That a wand chooses its master. That an inexplicable bond forms between the wand and its owner when they make first contact, like a kind of destiny. That's rubbish. She can choose whichever one she likes. Let me make some recommendations."

"If the price is right," Boaz nodded, pretending that he was somehow paying for it.

"Now, sir, we all know a man of your standing has no concern for money."

A small squeal of air seems to escape through Boaz's toothy smile.

"But as a preferred customer, I always provide preferred price. Seeing you here is good for business."

Boaz's chest seemed to puff up a bit.

"Now this one," Ian started, pulling out a large wand covered in pointed metal. "They've got a name for this one: 'Unnecessarily Spiked Wand'. Very popular with the kids. Or, if you're on the up and up, silver-crested staffs are in fashion."

"Now, let's avoid unnecessarily jewelry," Boaz insisted. "That's unbecoming."

But Lux's eye was captured by a curiously-shaped wand. While a wand usually has a focal gem on the top of it, where magical power is concentrated, this wand had two, one on each side.

"How is this wand meant to be used?" she asked.

Ian picked up the wand.

"What an eye she has," Ian smiled, moving it around in his hands to showcase it. "This is a custom wand cut from petrified wood imported from the Shadow Isles. The name of the wand-maker escapes me. I've got a catalog in the back. But to answer your question, I have no idea."

Lux picked it up with Ian's permission. It was surprisingly light, and she could easily twirl it in her hand.

"You've got quite nimble fingers," Ian acknowledged, putting his hands in his robes.

"This is the most ridiculous wand I've ever seen," Boaz scoffed. "I wrote a dissertation on wand use after all, to quite an amount of acclaim I might add. I can see right off that this wand lacks some essential components in its design. And where is its angle of insight? It certainly doesn't meet the standards of proportion set by Witherwood."

Lux gazed at the focal gems. The carved wood seems to grasp at them like claws. As the wand spun in her hand, she could see a kind of harmony between the two gems. She could feel the force of the wand gravitate towards it's center as it spun in her fingers.

"Yes, this is the one I want," Lux said softly.

"I think she likes it, professor!" Ian smiled, removing his hands and clapping them together. "How will you be paying, sir?"

Boaz froze. "Oh, I, uh... Didn't I give you my coin purse, dear?" He turned to Lux in panic.

Lux casually retrieved the purse Katarina gave to her. She was shocked to see how much was in it. She started to wonder how much money Katarina was planning to invest in her and to what end. Ayer was right, that there was something specific she must want with her...

Ian pulled out his catalog from a counter in the back of the store.

"Phew!" he said, flinching at the price. "I, uh, I'll just point to it right here."

Lux complied with the recommended amount. She didn't care to haggle. Afterwards the pouch was significantly lighter.

"Wow, the duke must be loaded," Ian whispered to her with a glance at Boaz, who was fiddling with an ornate set of robes.

Lux smiled. "I've been very fortunate."

"Well, you have my best wishes for the future. Please come again. I would certainly love to meet your father."

Lux's smile faded. For a brief moment, she thought of home.

"You are very kind, Ian," she said. "I will recommend your store to my friends."

"Noxus isn't as far away from home as it seems," he smiled.

"Maybe not," Lux whispered to herself.

She left the shop, Boaz quickly following behind her.

"That... was the most embarrassing experience... ever!" he growled. "You picked the most ridiculous wand, and against my recommendation... You made me look like a fool!"

You didn't need my help, Lux thought to herself.

"Put that thing away. Or better yet, don't. Maybe someone will steal it. Let's just hurry back to the carriage. Where is Talon anyway? Miserable underrot... probably picking someone's pocket. Where are you going?"

Lux, now a little more familiar with the Ward, made her way back towards the entrance herself. She didn't need Boaz to lead her around now that she had her wand. She didn't want to spend a minute more than she had to with this man. He shuffled after her, hands holding his robes above his sandaled feet.

"Hey! You know what I think. I think you think you're better than me!"

"What gave you that impression?" Lux asked with an annoyed tone.

"There!" he pointed angrily. "I can hear the condescension in your voice. I'll have you know that I served the High Command in the Rune Wars, before you were even born. I know magic that you would never even dream of seeing!"

Lux decided it was fruitless to talk to him. "Let's just get back to the manor," she sighed.

"Sinistra."

It was the voice of Talon whispering in her ear.

"You're being followed," his voice said warily. Boaz didn't seem to notice him pass behind her. "Tread carefully and return to the manor now."

Lux glanced around, unable to spot him as he'd passed. She didn't think twice about the warning and looked around for the exit.

"A typical uneducated child," Boaz continued, apparently unaware of what she'd heard. "That's your answer, isn't it? Silence? Just ignore wisdom when it's presented to you. Listen to your elders when they speak to you! What do you think you're going to do with that wand anyways? I don't care what kind of ability you have, magic is dangerous in ignorant hands. I'm speaking with the best intentions when I say that you should not be performing any kind of magic until you've been properly trained by someone..."

"Someone like you?" Lux finally replied, his constant whining finally getting to her. She was walking briskly towards the exit, but he kept trying to grab her cloak and stop her. She glanced around distractedly as he demanded her attention. Who would be following them?

"Yes, someone like me. Someone with education, intelligence..."

She clutched the wand tightly, trying to get accustomed to its shape, in case there was a fight. She could feel her magic start to flow into it. How long had it been since she'd been allowed to hold a wand? All through military training-

"Look at me when I talk to you!" Boaz started to yell.

"Be quiet," Lux muttered nervously as they passed the Noxian guard at the entrance. He looked at her curiously.

Boaz continued in hot pursuit of her, almost like a chase now. Suddenly, as they were walking uphill back towards the stable, Boaz grabbed her arm and pulled her forcefully aside.

"You think you're some kind of mage?" he said with squinting eyes. "Sure. C'mon, girl, I'll show you some magic."

"Please, stop," Lux pleaded. "We shouldn't fight."

"I knew it!" Boaz cackled. "This has all been a ruse. Who is that wand really for, huh?"

He tried to grab at it, but Lux had had enough. She knocked him in the wrist with it, causing him to recoil.

Boaz yelped and said nothing at first, clutching his hurt wrist, then he yelled angrily and a burst of dark magic shot from both his hands, knocking Lux into a wide alley. She rolled downhill, dropping the wand.

"Pitiful," Boaz said triumphantly. He smirked and made another attempt to pick up her new possession.

"No!" Lux cried out. The wand flew out of reach of his hand and returned to her with a magical hum. Boaz looked confused, realizing that she had actually used magic. She stood up, brushing dirt off her cloak. "Stop this now. I have reason to believe that we are in danger, Boaz."

"You are the one in danger!" he retorted, summoning a large ball of fire. 

Lux's eyes widened and she dodged to the side as it flew at her.

"See what a true mage can do! Even without a wand!"

"Stop!" Lux warned. She thought she could hear some kind of commotion nearby. It sounded like the clashing of blades.

"I won't be satisfied until you've been taught your first lesson. No tuition required!"

Another fireball came at her. She could feel her shield magic channelling into the wand. She spun it, and the shield it produced dispersed the oncoming spell safely into smoke around her.

"So you can use magic..." Boaz paused, his teeth gritted. "But a shield cannot help you in close combat!"

He barreled towards her with unreal speed. Lux defended herself by throwing a light binding. The spinning power of the wand caused it to form into a powerful wave of light, wrapping around Boaz's legs as it passed through him, freezing him in place.

"What... What kind of spell is that?"

She could feel her magic was incredibly amplified now. The wand was just what she needed!

"You're using forbidden magic?" Boaz looked at his own body, which seemed to glow with energy as a result of her spell, even as the light binding wore off. "Who taught you this?"

Was light magic forbidden in Noxus? Lux had no idea. Katarina hadn't said anything about it during their training.

"You can't dodge your way out of this fight!" Boaz growled, levitating himself up into the air. He seemed to be focusing into some kind of meditation. His robes began to flap in a magical wind.

Lux watched as his hands began to contort into different shapes. She recognized them immediately as runic gestures that preceded a large attack.

"Try and dodge this!" he yelled as a yellow-colored shape swirled around him. Snake-like, it shot towards her before splitting into a large amount of magical arrows.

Without delay, Lux threw her wand at him, spinning, striking the incoming spell as it came at her. Boaz ducked as the wand flew over his head before it arced and returned back to Lux like a boomerang. Bits of the spell landed harmlessly around her in explosions of energy. She spun the wand effortlessly around her like a baton then pointed it at him.

"My turn," said Lux, ready to put this cocky mage in his place. Her mind recalled the runes she had seen. Her hands remained steady on her upright wand as she channeled the runic images from her mind into it. The purple cloak began fluttering around her shoulders. That same yellow energy began to form around her, even more powerful-looking than it had on Boaz as she copied his spell.

"What is this?" Boaz screamed in astonishment. "How are you doing that?"

Lux broke into a huge, mischievous grin and began to laugh. As she laughed, the energy shot out all around her into the same arrows, filling up the whole alley. All of them intentionally landed around Boaz, who was so frightened he fell to his knees.

Lux landed back on the ground, apparently having risen into the air. She hadn't noticed. Boaz fell to his knees, shaking, both out of fear and out of fatigue. He was clearly too out of shape to fight like this.

"I..." he whimpered. "I spent two years... developing that spell."

Lux stood confidently over him. "Did you win an award?"

He looked up at her with an intense face. "I don't believe for a second that you haven't been schooled!"

"Does it hurt your ego?" Lux replied. She felt so much more powerful than him. It almost made her sick to watch him squirm.

Boaz's eyes widened. "Yes! Yes, I remember now!" He looked as though he was staring into the past.

"In the Runic Wars, I saw that magic. Magic that makes its enemies glow... Demacian!"

Lux suddenly came back to reality. She was in trouble.

"Demacian Luminosity!" he cried, arching back and pointing at her.

The mage had discovered her secret! Lux began to look around nervously. She didn't know how to respond. Images of Noxian prisons involuntarily flashed before her eyes. Skulls and bones...

"Help! Someone!" he cried out, struggling to his feet. "Someone help!"

But a shadow fell over Boaz's face.

"Help?" said the shadow.

Ayer stood over the bald mage with a grim expression. He kicked Boaz in the chest, sending him reeling backwards, farther into the alley.

"You seem to have done a number on him, 'Sinistra'," he said quietly. Boaz began to cough, rustling among piles of trash.

"He... He knows..." Lux whispered in a panic.

"I heard him," said Ayer, walking closer to the bumbling mage. "We'll have to dispose of him."

"What?" Boaz and Lux said simultaneously.

Ayer spun around at Lux, his cloak, she noticed, had stains of blood.

"Your mission is compromised. No one must know."

Boaz threw up his hands in front of him.

"I won't tell! I won't tell a soul!"

"Shut up," Ayer growled, turning back to him. He drew his rapier and held it in front of him, a straight line extending from his shoulder to the tip of the sword. "Boaz the miserly, the sycophantic... elitist... fat."

"Hey, now that's just mean," Boaz said flatly.

"What happened to Talon?" Lux asked nervously. "He was looking for you."

Ayer glanced back to the side alley he'd emerged from. Talon's still body was slumped against the wall. Lux couldn't believe it.

"You should have seen him," Ayer marveled. "Once he knew it was me..."

"Ayer," Lux's hands were on her face. "This is... What are we going to do?"

"What we must," Ayer said simply, lowering his head.

"Wait!" Boaz yelled as the blade plunged into his chest.

Lux muffled a scream of surprise with her hands. The color faded from the rotund mage's cheeks.

"I never..." sputtered Boaz, but he said nothing else. The back of his hand hit the pavement with a dull slap.

"Oh no," Lux breathed in astonishment. "He's dead."

"One more for the gutter, as Talon would say," Ayer muttered. "Alright, Lux."

He turned to her silently, sheathing his blade.

"Strike me."

"What?" Lux responded in disbelief.

"Strike me down, Lux," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. He looked tired. "This is what must happen."

"Of course not," she said. "Why?"

"It is vital," he replied. "It is vital that your mission continues. No one must suspect your loyalty. This is the best way. Defeat me and turn me in to the patrol."

"Stop it!" Lux cried. "I can't do that! They'll throw you in prison! They'll kill you!"

Ayer remained calm. "It was my intention to kill Talon, but now we need him alive. It works out. Talon will be indebted to you, for saving his life, for defeating the man he could not defeat himself. They will understand that I killed Boaz. They will see his wounds, and there is no sign that you did him any magical harm."

As his plan began to form in Lux's understanding, she began to shake her head and clench her teeth. "This is a bad plan, Ayer. I don't like it."

"Talon is the one great threat to you. If you have his trust, you'll earn the trust of General Du Couteau."

"No," Lux insisted.

"There is a man dead in the streets, not some street rat like Talon, one of them! Noxian law will demand blood! This is what must happen, and you are out of options. Now strike me down."

Lux's mind raced. There had to be another way, some way that they could both be safe.

Ayer grabbed her wrist, hurting her.

"Do it now!" he growled. "I've made my choice!"

"I haven't made mine," Lux said desperately, clutching his gripped hand with both of hers. 

Ayer's eyes narrowed. "You're such a child! Dammit, Lux, hit me!"

He pushed her to the ground and began to force himself on her.

"Stop!" she yelled. "What are you doing?"

Ayer punched her in the face.

A large blast from her hand knocked him off of her. Lux reached for her wand, heart pounding.

Ayer yelled and came at her again, drawing his blade.

"I'm sorry!" she screamed, hitting him full in the face with burst of light. Ayer flew into the air, hitting his head on the stone wall at the end of the alley. He fell like a ragdoll onto the cobblestone, his dropped rapier clanging and rolling away. His whole body glowed briefly before fading back into darkness.

Lux ran to him, hoping to a greater power that he wasn't dead.

She held his warm face in her hands. She didn't even know anything about him, and he was giving himself up for her. She looked hesitantly at the empty vessel that was Boaz's limp body. When would the time come that she would also have to kill without mercy?

She looked at Talon, peacefully unconscious, then back at Ayer.

Lux closed her eyes helplessly before finally calling out for the patrol.


	10. They Called Her a Weapon

Lux sat, hands folded on the metal table.

Her eyes darted between the cold surface and her interrogator. His folded hands nested themselves in his greying beard, and his good eye narrowed.

Lux had found that her best defense was silence. She knew that she wasn't any good at acting, and she didn't like hearing the sound of her own voice. It was either too bright or too frail, never the way she wanted it to be.

The eye-patched guard leaned impatiently back in his metal chair, involuntarily kicking the underside of the table. His right hand drummed on the surface. It was adorned with a thorned black-onyx ring.

Almost all of his questions had concerned Talon. Lux had gotten the impression that they were more glad to have him in custody than Ayer. Now he was trying to get a story out of her.

"I want to see Katarina," Lux demanded again. The Du Couteau name was her only leverage.

After a few minutes of intense silence, the man sighed and rubbed his hair.

"Wait here."

He grabbed his guard hat from table and left the room directly. Lux breathed a large sigh of relief and rested her head on the cold table.

"Ayer," she breathed out loud. His sacrifice was riddling her with guilt. First Reginald, now one of the Sprig's best agents was behind bars, and what had she accomplished? It felt like the burden of success was being progressively laid on her shoulders. How could she succeed when every step she took seemed closer and closer to certain death?

It was only a matter of time before Katarina would realize she had made a mistake, that she'd chosen someone unworthy of whatever task she'd planned for her. 'Sinistra' had supposedly defeated Ayer in combat, a man even Talon could apparently not best. Sooner or later, they were going to understand that Lux was not a soldier and had never wanted to be.

She raised her head and took in her dark surroundings. This place reminded her of the dormitories at the Demacian Academy; four walls and little sunlight.

A few weeks before she had graduated from the College of Magic, she had been approached by one of the school's professors with an invitation to participate in the study of Luminosity. She was one of the few, like her, that took the art more seriously than other forms of magic.

For the life of her, Lux couldn't remember her name...

It didn't matter now. Luminosity was not something she could rely upon anymore. Boaz had recognized it as Demacian. Another mage or some other Noxian could potentially make the same observation. For survival's sake, she had to focus on improving her knowledge of magic that was strictly Noxian. These spells bubbled in the back of her mind.

Her spellbook slammed on the table, causing dust to fly up. Lux's head shot up and met the angry face of Katarina.

"So what did you tell them?" she demanded.

"What?" Lux glanced around in a panic. "Nothing!"

Katarina looked like she hadn't been sleeping.

"Nothing?" she repeated. "Nothing... Right..."

She rubbed her face in her hands. Her shoulders lowered. A soft, low growl built up from beneath the hands, and she struck the table with her fist.

"Damn these prison guards!"

She blew at a stray bang of her hair and put her thumb to her lip.

"Them and the city watch," she muttered. "They hate Talon."

"Talon?"

"Yep. He's in the Pit." 

The Pit was where they interrogated their prisoners more intensely, sometimes using torture.

"Why?" Lux asked in surprise.

"Well, before he worked for my father, Talon did make a bad habit of slaughtering our soldiers in cold blood. And even afterwards he's done nothing to earn back their good opinion."

She laughed cathartically.

"What will they do to him?" Lux asked.

"Whatever they can get away with, I suppose. They'll probably try to get something out of him, enough to incarcerate him, but my father should be able to get him out before that happens."

Lux's eyes widened.

"The General is coming here?" she asked. Maybe this was her chance to finally meet him.

Katarina looked at her incredulously. "Of course not. He's going to send papers. You think he's just going to leave the High Command to set a servant loose from a city jail?"

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, boots slamming on the table. Lux was starting to feel more at ease, as much as she could be waiting in a place like this.

"He hasn't even been home since he's returned to Noxus," Katarina added.

Lux looked at Katarina's tired face and suspected, even through her stone expression, that there was pain in that statement.

"No rest for General Marcus Du Couteau..." the assassin sighed, flicking over an empty cup left by the interrogator.

"My father's name is Marcus too," Lux realized as an aside. "Was..." She added, remembering that she had said that her family was dead.

Katarina smirked derisively, closing her eyes. "Oh, was he a general too?"

Actually, he was.

"It's empty, I noticed."

Katarina nodded at the spellbook sitting in the middle of the table.

"I thought mages needed spellbooks to do magic."

"Not necessarily," Lux explained. When she talked about magic, her voice regained its usual enthusiasm and expression, perhaps forgetting briefly about her troubles. "Spells are typically complicated and require a lot of energy to perform, but they can be recalled from memory."

"Which is all you seem to do," Katarina observed, letting a yawn escape.

"Yes, well, I have a pretty good memory. A spellbook helps you focus, which can help you channel it better. In some cases, a spellbook can amplify your spells with magic of its own."

Katarina's eyebrow raised as her hand rested on her cheek.

"Fascinating. So we need to get those spells out of your little head and into this book."

Lux brought herself out of her academic mode and lowered her head.

"Yes, I suppose."

"So, apparently your combat training is paying off."

"Hmm?" Lux's mind kept drifting back to magic. Her eyes popped open when Katarina produced Lux's wand from behind her chair. Her mentor's elegant-yet-calloused hands ran over the petrified wood.

"This Ayer... Talon told me about him. He's a vagrant, Noxian-born, a studied duelist but he's got a significant amount of holes in his records..."

She handed the wand over to the eager Lux. It seemed undamaged.

"Not unlike yourself," Katarina added, a comment that made Lux uncomfortable. "It's been heavily rumored that he's been supplying information to the Demacian government for awhile, so my father was having Talon track this man for over a year now. Talon is very injured..."

She turned to Lux.

"You don't have a scratch on you."

Lux stared at her wand for a few seconds, formulating her response, then looked back at Katarina and set the wand on the table in front of her.

"I've... never known this kind of power. He wanted to kill me, but I didn't feel any fear... I knew that I had the ability to destroy him. As I held this wand, I could feel my magic was stronger than it had ever been. He may have been a master swordsman, but I could have killed him in seconds."

Katarina looked intrigued. She folded her hands in front of her face.

"How did that make you feel?"

Lux shuffled nervously.

"I felt like... his life was in my hands."

Katarina leaned back, apparently satisfied.

"You..." she pointed at her. "...are a good investment."

"Katarina..." Lux put her hands on the table and summoned the correct choice of words. "I don't know what you want with me. I'm not rich. I'm not educated. I'm not trained..."

"Well, that will change. Have patience. Your training will continue."

"But to what end, Katarina? What do you want with me?"

"Sinistra," Katarina chuckled. "Don't be naive. You said yourself that the wand made you feel powerful enough to kill a master swordsman. Why do you think I bought it for you?"

"You..." the reality of their conversation dawned on Lux. "You're training me... equipping me to kill people?"

Katarina curled her fingers into the shape of a gun and pointed at her.

"Bingo."

Lux's mind flashed back to the alley as she watched Ayer plunge a sword into Boaz's gut. Her hands involuntarily slipped into her hair and clung for dear life.

"I can't..." she muttered.

Katarina coughed casually.

"You let a murderous traitor live after he tried to kill you. So yeah, clearly. We've got to work on that. Sinistra, when I met you I knew you were weak. You hesitate to attack, you are easily intimidated, and your cheerfulness is really, really annoying..."

Lux didn't recall ever once acting cheerful around her. Maybe by comparison, but...

"...But with magic like yours, kid, you were born to be a weapon."

No. Lux couldn't believe this conversation was happening again. This time it was coming from the lips of a Noxian, but the words were nearly identical to those of Demacia's recruitment officers.

They called her a weapon.

Katarina snapped her fingers, drawing Lux back to the conversation.

"Killing isn't easy the first time," Katarina explained. "I know. Trust me. But once it happens..."

Katarina hesitated.

"You understand that it's fine. It's not something to feel guilty about."

Lux felt like she was going to be sick. Her and Katarina's eyes were locked.

"Remember what I said about that librarian of yours? People make choices that take them where they choose to go. They get there, and one day, you'll meet them there... and you'll have a knife."

She paused, maybe waiting for a response from Lux. None came. Lux just looked at her, trying her best to hide the anger and hatred that was slowly building up towards this woman.

"And as they're lying on the ground, choking on their own blood, they will look up at you in their final moments and know it's they're own damn fault. Oh, they'll hate you, and blame you. But Sinistra..."

She leaned farther forward for emphasis.

"They are the ones who feel regret."

Lux closed her eyes briefly. Guilt and regret were not the same thing, she told herself. Her mind started to run to the Demacian creeds of justice and righteousness, but Katarina kept talking.

"There will be a day when you'll have to kill," she assured her. "It's the Noxian way."

Lux didn't want to be a Noxian anymore. She'd made a mistake. Why had she come here?

"Do you know why you're here?" Katarina said as if reading her mind.

Lux reopened her eyes. Katarina nodded as she spoke.

"You want to be here. You chose this."

Lux had come to Noxus to save lives, not take them. She had come here to get away from the generals who only saw her as a weapon of war. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of those in need. She wanted to do what was right.

"And Sinistra, I'm going to give you what you came here for. I promise you that."

Katarina extended her hand towards her. Lux looked up. That manipulative, conniving, evil woman was offering her the very things that she had been offered by the Demacian government. She'd rejected them in her heart then.

"You're blackmailing me into doing your dirty work, just like with Boaz," Lux responded, not bothering to hide her discontent. "I don't want money if it means I have to kill."

Katarina's face became sharp.

"Of course you don't want money. You want respect..."

Lux's eyes dilated.

"...And a family."

The words hit Lux like a truck, out of nowhere. She raised her gaze to Katarina's face, and where she had expected to find a cold, uncaring face there was... there was... compassion? 

Katarina reached over and took Lux's hand.

"You want a family," she repeated.

Lux realized that her lips were quivering.

Not her.

Katarina's hand squeezed and withdrew. She regained her usual composure of casual professionalism.

"I've made a request to my father. He knows about our little secret now. I've asked him to let you stay at the Du Couteau manor as a permanent resident. This little incident is a victory. I'm certain you'll earn my father's trust after saving Talon's life."

Katarina stood up. Lux was almost shaking with anger. She tried with all her might not to show it, clutching the edge of the table. She was angry and confused. They couldn't fool her, using her emotions as a tool to get what they wanted. Katarina and her family were evil, and they had to be stopped.

"And Sinistra?"

Lux looked up again at the doorway. There was a man standing behind Katarina, a man in a Noxian uniform. Katarina stepped away.

It was Reginald.

"Hello, Sinistra."

Lux jumped to her feet.

"R-Razik?"

It was like going back in time. They were back at the Academy, training to become Demacian weapons of war. Except now he was dressed in dark metal armor with a bright-red Noxian cloak and the skull emblem clasp. Katarina held up her hand silently, indicating the number 'five' and stepped into the hallway, closing the door.

His face looked worn, but his curly hair was groomed. What had they done to him while he was in prison? She walked up to him. His new armor made him look a lot larger than she remembered.

"Hi," he said.

"I'm sorry," Lux sputtered immediately. "Reginald, I'm so sorry."

"Luxanna..." he began. Lux quieted at the sound of her real name. "What have you done?"

He was angry with her. Why else would his expression be so cold? She just wanted him to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be OK now.

"They let me go," he continued. "You didn't agree to anything, did you?"

Lux didn't know how to respond. She had let on to Katarina that she cared about his fate. Was she doing this to keep her loyalty in check? Was Reginald a bargaining chip?

"This is all my fault," Reginald said, lowering his head.

"How is any of this your fault?" Lux responded, realizing that he wasn't angry.

"I should have stood by you, when they wanted to send you away."

"Oh... Reginald, it's not..."

"I was really upset that Bill-... Redman was dead. I wasn't thinking straight."

He grabbed her by the shoulders. Lux stood still.

"All I could think about was keeping you safe. It was... unprofessional of me. I was being overbearing..."

He was trying to apologize. All Lux could think about was how terrible she felt about the trouble she'd gotten him into.

"Please, don't blame yourself. I was stupid, trying to go out on my own and-"

Reginald looked up quickly, interrupting her. He grabbed her hands, startling her.

"Do something amazing? Lux, look where you're standing! You're working directly under Katarina?"

"Yes," Lux hesitated. 

"That's incredible!"

His encouragement felt good.

"But... Reg, it's because of me that they threw you in jail!"

Reginald shook his head defiantly.

"No, I was stupid. When you went missing, I went back to the library. That was foolish."

"But she followed me to Bartok's..."

"Lux!" Reginald paused, remembering to keep his voice down. "Look at yourself. Look at where you are. I would gladly die to help you get as far as you've gotten."

"Please don't say that," Lux stammered, trying to push out imaginative thoughts of his death.

"Katarina will be back soon. Lux, I... I'm just so glad you're OK. I know... that you can take care of yourself without me."

"Wait, what are they going to do with you?"

"Military training first, then assignment. Should be a month or so, I think. They're sending me to the barracks now."

He sighed. Lux realized he might be scared.

"Rusty took care of me, kept me in touch with Tanis. They know you're here now, which is good. Also, there was this yordle..."

"Cecil!" Lux had completely forgotten about him. 

"Yeah, Bartok's kid, or nephew, or something. Strange kid. He uses the sewers and catacombs to get around."

"Please tell me you sent him home."

Reginald shook his head, opening the door.

"I couldn't if I tried. He likes you, I think. He says he's your bodyguard now. I've got to go, Sinistra."

Lux didn't want to hear that fake name anymore. She wished, right now, that they could have gone back to Demacia, both of them. 

He paused, not looking at her directly.

"I'm really happy that you're OK."

"Regi-... Razik!"

She yelled down the stone hall, but he was already turning a corner, his red cape waving behind him.

She stood there for a moment before closing the door and returning to the metal table. Was someone coming back for her? A wave of sadness fell over her, and she put her head in her hands, enveloping her vision in blackness. 

A few minutes passed alone in the room before the words finally escaped her lips.

"Thank you, Katarina."

\------------------

"I had the man in my hands!" Talon growled. "I saw my blade strike with deadly force, and yet it made no contact. It was like fighting a ghost!"

Talon, Katarina, Cassiopeia and Lux sat at a small table overlooking the courtyard, which was temporarily absent of training equipment. Katarina insisted that they clean up before every break. The vast lawn was surrounded by various gardens, full of birds and insects fluttering. It was the first day of spring in Noxus, for what little plant-life the city had. For once the sun was shining and the wind was cool.

It had been a week after his capture that they finally let Talon go. During that time Katarina and Lux were continuing to train. Although Lux enjoyed the exercises far less. The thrill of the fight was now overshadowed by the terror of murder. 

She hadn't heard from Reginald, Cecil or Ayer, assuming Ayer was still alive. His capture had been made public.

"My dear Talon," Cassiopeia chided, sipping tea. "It sounds as if you had trouble determining where the man began and where he ended. I saw the pictures of him in the paper, the size of that man's coat was ridiculous. For all you know he was all 'fiddlesticks' underneath."

Katarina's sister looked out of place among her present company. Cassiopeia was dressed in a colorful spring skirt while they were all outfitted in fighting gear. Lux's arms were covered in bruises from Katarina's increasingly brutal exercises, and Talon's arm was still in a sling from his fight with Ayer. He seemed far more irritable without a giant blade attached to his arm. Somewhere on the grounds he would train in isolation, in spite of his injury.

Talon held his tongue. Lux had realized that he was not one to openly criticize the general's daughters. He seemed to keep his opinions to himself. As such, he opened himself up to Cassiopeia's constant teasing.

"Which is more sore," she continued. "Your broken arm or your broken pride?"

"Shutup, Cass," said Katarina, who didn't approve of tea. She sipped her glass of water. "Like you know anything about handling a sword."

"Oh, I've seen enough men handle swords," she smiled, taking a bite of a cookie. Katarina rolled her eyes. Cassiopeia sighed, staring at the courtyard. "Remember when I used to duel you, Kat?"

"I only remember that you gave up dueling shortly after I would consistently win."

"After I lost interest. Of course, there's more than one way to settle a fight with an opponent."

Katarina grabbed a cookie for herself.

"Sure, maybe you could sleep with their first-born son and then negotiate a treaty?"

The entire table went silent. Cassiopeia slammed her napkin on the table and stood up.

"That... is uncalled for," she stammered. "Do you really think so terribly of your sister?"

Katarina didn't look the slightest bit fazed as her face feigned concern. "Oh no, by all means, my dear Cass. I am amazed at your ability to negotiate. You have the unique ability to persuade practically anyone in Valoran to explore alternatives to war, as long as it's before, during or after sex."

Talon began to choke on his tea. Lux sat with her hands between her legs, looking as small as possible as the two sisters were locked in an intense death stare. This... was a family?

"I still have my metal claws," Cassiopeia hissed.

"Those harmless things?" Katarina purred.

"Should I cover myself with knives, like you?"

"Better than a corset."

"Well, maybe you should try one. Maybe you'd have better luck attracting Demacian soldiers!"

Katarina suddenly upended the tea table. Porcelain broke all around them as Cassiopeia quickly retreated into the house. The wall behind her became stuck with daggers while Katarina screamed, following her into the house.

Lux sipped her tea as Katarina yelled incomprehensibly in the background about 'rumors' and 'slander'. She wondered what, or who, it was about. Apparently gossip wasn't a Demacian invention.

"I chased Ayer for so long," Talon continued, sitting in his table-less chair as if nothing interesting had occurred. "He just laughed. He wouldn't stop laughing at me, strike after strike. I swear, the strangest fight of my life..."

"Cheer up, Talon," Katarina said, reemerging, happy to have Cass gone. She tossed her hair back and kicked her sister's smashed teacup into a bush. "I'll have you fight Sinistra when you're healed. Maybe she could teach you a thing or two."

Lux glanced at Talon, expecting a hateful stare, but his eyes were closed.

"I'd be honored," he said quietly.

Lux looked warily at his broken arm. If Talon did fight with her, for real, he would win. He would become suspicious of her story, and she would be at risk again. Lux was training harder than ever with Katarina for this very reason.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to spar with each other while I'm gone," Katarina replied, glancing at them both. 

"What do you mean?" Lux asked.

Katarina reset the ruined table and clapped her hands. 

"I've got some important information to share with both of you. I'll be leaving Noxus for an undisclosed amount of time. Sinistra..."

"Yes," Lux replied quickly, rubbing the bruise on her skull tattoo.

"We'll be in correspondence while I'm gone. Every week, I will have an envelope waiting for you in the morning with instructions. The same afternoon, you will write me a letter sharing your activity and give it to the head servant. This pattern will continue until I return."

"And..." Lux wondered. "When will that be?"

A servant approached Katarina, handing her what appeared to be an envelope.

"For 'an undisclosed date in time'," Katarina reiterated, with a sneer. "Ah, I believe this is for you."

Lux reluctantly took the envelope. It was marked with a seal, the seal of the High Command, which is five swords and five hands. Opening it revealed a letter of fine parchment, handwritten.

_To the mage, Sinistra, servant of Noxus,_

_Word has reached me of your accomplishments in the short time you have known my daughter, Katarina. Upon the word of my servant, Talon, you are a proficient duelist in the use of magic, aiding the capture of a villain in the service of Demacia. The High Command thanks you for your efforts, and because of them this traitor will surely hang. My daughter has also informed me that you assisted her in the capture of a thief of artifacts at Witherwood, our treasured branch of arcane knowledge. For that you also have the thanks of the High Command. It is my hope that you will continue to serve Noxus, and I wish us to meet to discuss your hopes for the future. I request that you would stay at the Du Couteau manor in service of our household. You are welcome to stay in my home for as long as my daughter wishes it. She holds you in high esteem. I look forward to meeting you._

_Forever strong,_

_General Marcus Du Couteau_

Lux looked up from the letter, bewildered. The blood drained from her face.

Katarina picked the metal pitcher off the ground and poured some water into her shattered glass and raised it.

"Welcome to the family."


	11. Jericho Swain

A mostly empty spellbook bounced against Lux's hip.

It wasn't empty for her lack of trying to fill it. While Lux could quickly recall most of her spells from memory, she had found it difficult to copy the spells onto paper. It wasn't a simple matter of describing them. Spells were written in necessary detail, painting a kind of picture for the caster. While Lux recalled the picture, the bits and pieces that made up the instruction were nearly impossible for her to recall. She needed to see the originals.

She had explained all this to Katarina, asking that she be granted official access to Blacktorch library. When they had finished training early this morning to walk the streets of Noxus Proper, Lux had assumed that it was their destination.

But clearly it wasn't. Katarina had led her in a completely different direction and was now leading her down a long, steep, cement staircase winding down a remote side of the mountain. The expanse of lower Noxus loomed below them, and it seemed like one small slip could send you tumbling down the cliffside. Dense brown bushes clung to the boulders and outcroppings of broken granite. An occasional breeze threatened to throw them off their feet.

"I would suggest that you remain silent," Katarina explained. "At least until we're inside the High Command."

"This is-" Lux struggled to talk and breathe simultaneously. "The way to the High Command?"

"This is a private, government road, one of many entrances."

"But isn't there a front gate somewhere?"

"Yes, and the fifty-strong guard there is trained to kill anyone who tries to pass through it. That gate is reserved for the leaders of the High Command."

"And that's where?" Lux asked, grabbing the third step behind her for balance.

"Well, that's a secret," Katarina smiled, descending skillfully.

They had already passed three guard posts up to this point. This entire side of the mountain, the side shaped like a skull, was restricted, property of the High Command. Lux was beginning to understand why the Sprig of Silver was having such a hard time infiltrating it.

Looking over, a hundred feet to her left, Lux was startled to see a troll staring at her. It was nearly motionless and as large as a statue, kneeling on a boulder of a similar color. It's large jaw lowered, revealing a menacing pair of teeth beneath its bulbous nose. It's fists were as big as the club it wielded.

"Trolls..." Katarina looked over, muttering under her breath.

The troll gave them a warning growl, but no one had given him permission to clobber anyone yet.

Over the next step, Lux could finally see a road, and after that, the guard at the bottom step.

"Miss Katarina," the man acknowledged. "And Miss..."

"Sinistra," Katarina finished. "Remember that name."

The guard didn't respond, showing no emotion. He may have glanced at Lux.

"You are free to continue."

Katarina sighed through her teeth and led on down the road.

"This can't be the only way in," Lux said, looking over her shoulder at the impassable terrain around them.

"Of course not. There are hundreds. But only a few are passable on a given day. No one enters without the consent of the High Command, which we have been given today... by my father."

Lux had been trained to keep her heart-rate low at all times, but it was understandably difficult to do so now.

"It's natural to be nervous," Katarina said. "Just stay quiet. A fool talks without permission."

Lux almost retorted that Katarina almost always talked without permission, but she held her tongue, having already taken too many liberties with her today. Every time Lux made a wise or contrary remark, Katarina trained her harder, which was fine by Lux because she liked to push her limits. Besides, talking back to Katarina was one of the few pleasures she enjoyed these days. In this situation, however, she'd wanted to be on Katarina's good side.

The road led along a sediment cliff side, coming to a stone archway leading underground. A silent guard monitored them from its entrance.

Noxus really was a military state. Lux knew that military service was mandatory for Noxians, but it was so unusual to see soldiers literally everywhere they went. Even after a month at the Du Couteau manor, it was still astounding to witness the scope of Noxus's military presence.

The tunnel was dark, and their footsteps echoed. There was no light in the distance other than torchlight.

Demacia had a very strong military, strong enough to challenge Noxus and deter their unwanted advances. But it was voluntary, and armed soldiers were not a common sight in the city streets. This level of security would only be found within the very walls of King Jarvan's palace.

Lux was admittedly impressed. She could not imagine a place more impenetrable than the High Command.

And she smiled, because for all its guards and safety measures, here she was. She put her hand to her mouth as Katarina turned to her.

"Do not let your eyes wander. Follow me as if you know where I am going, and do not break your composure."

Composure, one of the things Katarina had taught her. When interacting with an 'opponent', have complete control over what you are communicating with your face, because they will be doing their best to get you to give them the advantage.

Lux was reminded of how at the Sprig of Silver they were encouraged to protect their identities. But they were all false identities. They were spies. Did real Noxians perpetually play this games of secrets?

They were now deep within the mountain, and the hallway intersected with a much larger one. Now there were other Noxians, soldiers, mages, scribes, passing by. The dark stone walls were decorated with weapons, maps, suits of armor, paintings...

This was it.

For the first time in history, a Demacian walked the halls of the Noxian High Command. 

Her heart was pounding. This was not only the most dangerous thing she'd ever done, potentially that anyone had ever done, but there was no one to rescue her if something went wrong. 

Honestly, she'd felt on her own for over a month now.

The ceilings were decorated with carven stone in the shape of skulls. The two of them were brushing shoulders with powerful government officials, the gears that ran that wheels of Noxus itself. This was the heart of death.

A man in a purple robe passed them, and Lux realized that it was a Noxian summoner. Didn't someone tell her that they were not allowed to leave the Institute of War? Didn't Katarina say that they could read people's minds?

Lux was having trouble swallowing. She did her best to create a map in her mind of the passageways they had travelled, but the halls turned irregularly, making the task all but impossible.

What would she do if things went wrong and she had to escape? What if someone read her mind or recognized her as Marcus Crownguard's child? That kind of failure, she could assume, would mean her death.

But it didn't matter about the risk, she told herself. She was meeting face-to-face with a leader of the Noxian High Command. This was perhaps the most important mission she, or any Demacian, could undertake. All her time at the Du Couteau manor was for this. Ayer's plan was succeeding, flawlessly.

She had to do it for him, she told herself, or else his death would have been for nothing.

"Is it what you expected?" Katarina asked. She walked calmly through the old, stone halls, observing Lux as she took in her surroundings.

"What? Oh, I... honestly didn't know what to expect," Lux replied.

"The High Command is an institution hundreds of years old. Before that, these were dungeons used by the archmages when Noxus was a smaller city-state. These older corridors can be a little smokey..."

"Do you come here often?"

"When it's requested, usually by my father." Katarina gazed ahead, her soldier-like qualities becoming visible.

"What is your father like?" Lux asked. She had seen a number of paintings of him in the Du Couteau manor. The resemblance between him and Katarina's face was noticeable, though his hair was dark brown like Cassiopeia's.

"You'll see soon enough," she answered casually as she marched face-forward. "I want you to soak in this place, Sinistra. You've spoken about what makes a Noxian. This is the place. This is what makes Noxus what it is. Here you are surrounded by greatness, by the best. These... are your opponents."

Lux made an effort to keep up Katarina's hurrying pace while still maintaining a look of professionalism. It wasn't easy.

"Don't you mean 'allies'?"

Katarina gave her a funny look.

"And how does it feel, Miss Du Couteau..." said a scratchy, elderly voice. "...to be surrounded by greatness?"

Katarina stopped and spun around towards an old, battle-worn face. A pair of strange, piercing, red eyes leered at her. Lux was startled at the sight of him, decrepitly leaning on a wooden cane, the lower half of his face hidden beneath a scarf. A freakish, six-eyed raven was perched atop his shoulder, cawing in her face.

"Jericho Swain, what an honor," Katarina responded with unveiled sarcasm. "Can I help you?"

They had met at an intersection, lit by torchlight. An approaching Noxian mage was walking towards them, stopped and decided that he'd made a wrong turn.

The old man brought both of his hands to his cane. Perhaps he was smiling under the scarf. The only expression that was visible was his narrowed, leathery eyes.

"What business do you have here?" Katarina pressed at his lack of response.

"Katarina Du Couteau, daughter of Marcus Du Couteau. I can see that those born into power and fortune do not also inherit manners," he cooed through the cloth. "You could not seriously be asking me to divulge the will of the High Command without your having authorization. I wouldn't expect you to share your marching orders for your journey north to the Freljord. The Northern Barbarian Pacification Campaign, isn't it? What a marketable title."

His voice was cutting, despite its scratchy, frail nature. He spoke to Katarina as if she was a schoolchild.

"That... information is classified," Katarina growled, willful to maintain composure.

"Yes, that was my argument, obviously. Now, who is this yellow sapphire you've brought to our halls?" He gazed at Lux in fascination. Looking into his eyes made Lux's blood run cold.

"This is Sinistra. She is a mage in service of my family... alone. Sinistra, this is-"

"Jericho Swain..." he finished, bowing his head respectfully. "Commander in the service of the High Command."

"The so-called 'Master Tactician'..."

"You flatter me," he smiled, probably. The bird-like creature flapped its wings silently. It seemed to be staring at Lux, who couldn't help but stare back at it. "You seem very young, Sinistra, to be seen walking such halls. Who is it you are here to see? Could it be General Marcus?"

"Her business is none of yours, Swain," Katarina growled defensively.

Composure, it seemed, was failing Katarina. Swain appeared in command of the conversation, and Lux suspected his questions to be entirely rhetorical. She remained silent, as Katarina had suggested.

The old general gazed around the halls calmly, as though he had allowed himself to be delayed. He refused Katarina his eye contact.

"Are you deaf and senile, old man?" she derided.

"Such a temper for a daughter of such a fine general." 

He turned again to Lux. 

"Your name is Sinistra? You must have an exceptional amount of magical skill to be found in this place at such a young age. You couldn't be more than sixteen, my dear... Tell me, what power do you possess?"

"I..." Lux began. Something about this man was unsettling her, but she wouldn't allow herself to be intimidated by him. "I suppose... you'll know soon enough."

The crippled man suddenly broke out into a loud, bold laughter. The raven on his shoulder flapped its wings and cawed a terrible caw.

"Boldness," he said suddenly, lowering his brow. "Belies strength... Reveals overconfidence... True strength comes from brokenness, my girl. You are so... young."

He reached forward as if to touch her and then crushed the air in his hand. His voice curdled.

"Perhaps if we break your body and your spirit, you'll emerge from your grave with new life."

He struck the bottom of his cane to the stone, producing a loud clatter that echoed through the hall. Lux flinched. Swain rested his eyes and chortled.

"Katarina, you seem a poor trainer for such a gifted girl. Perhaps you should allow me to teach her."

Katarina stammered slightly, seeming to become enraged. She bared her teeth as she spoke. "Enough. My father chose me to train her myself. If you have a problem with that, you can bring it up with him!"

Swain did not react, daring Katarina to hold his gaze. After a few moments, he unapologetically bowed low, causing his crow to flap its wings.

"Of course, I am but a simple general, not a leader of the High Command. What right does a man like myself have to bother such a busy man? I ask your forgiveness for being so bold."

Katarina, clearly irked, made a noise of disgust and turned on her heel to walk away.

"I heard a rumor..." Swain continued, in an attempt to stall her. "...that the High Command is intent on selecting a new champion to join the League of Legends. I must admit that I've found the prospect incredibly tempting."

Katarina stopped dead, then turned over her shoulder, betraying a look of shock before she moved on without offering a reply. Lux hurried after her, eager to get far away from this man, but he grabbed her shoulder, his voice falling to a coarse whisper. His voice sounded inhuman.

"Dare not tarry long, my child, in the company of the condemned, lest you yourself plunge lost into the deep we prepared for them."

Lux froze, staring at the icy hand. She didn't dare turn around.

Poetry. The author was Demacian.

"Sinistra!" Katarina yelled at her from down the hall, hands on her hips.

Lux broke free. Looking behind her, she could see him and his raven standing still at the intersection, following her with red eyes. Their profile eventually vanished in the dimness.

"Damn him," Katarina said under her breath. An unfortunate stray bucket exploded into shards against her foot.

They continued on through a larger hall, a hub of sorts. Many men in military uniform lingered here, surrounded by large statues portraying Noxians of lore and myth, but no statue was larger than that of Boram Darkwill, the immortal leader of the High Command. The general's younger figure was handsome and powerful-looking. Now he was over a hundred years of age. Though he may be clinging to life, his leadership suggested the same vicious lust for power that he must have had then. The statue's gaze faced onward towards potential victory and future conquest. At his feet were the bodies of the fallen.

Lux noticed a few men dressed in purple robes scattered in this hall. Noxian summoners! Lux avoided looking at them, certain that they could, at any moment, probe her mind for secrets.

They emerged from the building into daylight. A strong breeze knocked against them, causing their long hair to fly up and into their faces. It was a long balcony, hundreds of yards long with parapets along its edge. The smooth stone dropped down farther than she could discern, meeting the cliff below. Above them, two large expanses made up holes in the mountainside. Lux realized that they were now walking along the mouth of the skull's face. 

It was the first real view she'd gotten of the entirety of Noxus. The city of Noxus Proper was directly below them and seemed to wrap around the mountain, climbing ever-slowly toward the heights of the High Command. Somewhere above them, on the mountain's other side, was the Du Couteau manor and the rest of the elite residencies, as well as Boram Darkwill's palace. The massive moat circled around the city, separating it from the rest of Noxus.

"Sometimes I'll stand here and just look," Katarina admitted, voice slightly raised to compensate for the wind. "It's the greatest city in the world."

Hardly, thought Lux. All she could think about was how ugly it all looked, although she admitted that the view was incredible. She could somewhat make out the movement of people on the streets below.

Near the center of this balcony was a large opening in the cliffside, guarded by a series of gigantic stone pillars with lines chiseled into the shapes of human-like guardians. Between them, large metal bowls holding piles of coal hung by large chains from the ceiling, likely used to light fires at night. These explained the haunting glow that came from the mouth of the mountain in the evening. Approaching the entrance, Lux saw that the cave extended farther in than she could perceive, the pillars continuing in line like an army of stone. It gave the impression of infinite might.

As they entered this hall, Lux realized that the number of people present had significantly diminished. Maybe it was the size of this place and the way their footsteps echoed amongst the pillars, but it felt as if they were the only two people there.

Finally, they saw the end of it, and centered against the relatively small stone face of the cave there was a large double-door, surrounded by what looked to be stone lizards. No soldiers were standing near it, yet it's significance was apparent. The door itself was twenty feet high and made of a dark wood, carved with ancient symbols and runes that Lux did not recognize. Behind it was silence.

"Yes, that's the place," Katarina said simply.

Lux felt a chill run over her. She was mere footsteps from the heart of Noxus, where every great decision that governed the nation was made. Her imagination took hold of her as she pictured the five generals deliberating and determining the fate of their people.

The injustice of their powerful rule and their governance of selfish ambition overcame her briefly. She lingered at the doors.

"All these torches are lit when the High Command is in session. Maybe someday you'll be invited to enter."

Katarina couldn't help but laugh, bumping her hip into Lux. The cold steel of her kunai touched the skin of Lux's arm.

Lux said nothing. She wanted nothing more than to use her light magic and bring herself some kind of warmth in this cold, dark place. She no longer used her Luminosity in public, not after Ayer's capture, but she would still use it in private, usually when she had trouble sleeping.

They continued on to the left, away from the High Command entrance, and came to another, smaller passageway. These tunnels were carpeted and even more decorated. Almost all of the stone wall was carven with shapes, symbols and runes. A single, decorated officer passed them, glancing at Katarina, who didn't return his grin.

They came to an oak door set in a stone frame. Katarina exhaled, straightened up and knocked, but there was no reply. She knocked again, louder, and yet still no response came. Katarina grimaced. She opened the door, complaining as she entered.

"How do you expect-"

A marvelous, empty office met them. A large mahogany desk filled up most of the space, covered by a pane of glass. On it were neat stacks of papers, a golden inkwell, and a statuette of a buck and a bear fighting. The walls were nearly all bookshelves with an open space in the corner holding wine bottles, glasses, and a flask of brandy. Somewhere a clock ticked. A maroon leather chair was tucked under the desk, slightly turned. Covering most of the stone floor was a red-and-gold Ionian rug.

"No..." Katarina's voice rose. "Not today..."

"Where is he?" Lux couldn't help but ask.

Katarina seemed to ignore her, approaching the desk with shoulders raised in frustration. She involuntarily drew a kunai.

"Not today, Marcus..."

"Maybe he's late," Lux suggested.

Katarina turned sharply, her eyes like daggers.

"He is never late."

She gripped the kunai before resting it on the glass surface. She walked around the desk and sat in her father's chair.

"Go ahead and sit, Sinistra," she said angrily.

Lux complied, sitting in a small chair against the wall. Katarina put her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her hands, her red hair covering her face.

"So what now?" Lux asked, sitting awkwardly.

"Now we wait for the general, who won't come. Then we leave."

"That's it?"

"Yep!"

Katarina spun the chair around and kicked the bookshelf wall, causing a number of the books to fall.

"Katarina, are you OK?"

"Oh, I'm just great!"

She kicked again just to watch more of them fall. Some of the books fell open, bending the pages.

"I'm only your own daughter, your own flesh and blood!"

Lux felt a little sorry for Katarina. Her and Cassiopeia had had another screaming match last night, and she was pretty sure that Kat hadn't gone to sleep at all afterward. Something was clearly causing the family a lot of stress, and she hadn't figured out what yet.

"Take it easy, Kat."

Katarina settled into silence, head lowered. After a minute of listening to the ticking clock, she turned her head and looked at Lux. Her eyes looked different than Lux had ever seen them before.

"It's not easy," she choked.

Her voice sounded... different... higher pitched. She paused, retaining eye contact, but with shifting eyes.

"Sinistra..."

Lux found herself staring back, uncertain what to do. Katarina was, for the first time, speaking on the same level as her. Katarina's mouth hovered open before she finally let the words out.

"When my mother died... Things changed. At first, it was fine."

Her eyes were open like she didn't want to say any of this, but it was just coming out.

"Then we stopped having dinners. Then we didn't see him outside the office. Then he never came home. Now... He's not even here."

Lux opened her mouth to speak, but Katarina continued, pausing constantly between statements.

"It's fine. I understand. She did a lot for him, and now he's alone. I do my best to help, but I'm a League champion. They only let me get so far. I can't do what she did. Cass is the diplomat now."

Katarina tossed her hand.

"She's out of the house almost as often as him. But she doesn't see what it's doing to her. She wasn't ready for that world. I hardly even know who she is anymore..."

She paused. Her breath had quickened, now she slowed.

"I don't believe them for a minute when they say that... That I'm a liability..."

Talon had told Lux how much Katarina's failed mission had cost Noxus in their war against Demacia. Lux wondered what kind of repercussions that event had on her military career.

"I'm sorry," was all Lux could think to say. It was genuine.

Katarina seemed to recoil at those words. Her normal, lower voice returned.

"You don't pity me," she growled.

"I don't. That's not what I meant."

"My father is a great man! If there were just gods, he'd rule this nation by right. The Du Couteau legacy is the greatest in Noxus!"

Was she trying to earn her father's respect? Was that what this was all about? Was she trying to make up for that mistake she made all those years ago?

"We'll succeed this time. In the Freljord..." she muttered to herself now. "He chose me to do it."

Lux couldn't keep up with Katarina's train of thought. She had hoped to learn more about General Du Couteau's military plans, but that opportunity was gone now. She had to rely on Katarina for information again.

It was good though, Lux thought. Katarina being put in charge of a military campaign meant that she was a potential source of important intelligence. She would meet General Du Couteau... eventually...

"So..." Katarina seemed to be trying to regain her composure. "Now you understand why you're here."

"Yes," Lux nodded.

"I know you'll do what I say anyways, but I wanted you to know."

"Right."

"Right," Katarina repeated.

She stared at the wall, tapping her foot underneath the desk.

"It's nice... having someone around the house."

"You're a good teacher," Lux said quickly.

Katarina glanced at her and smiled.

"You're not such a bad student."

"Thanks," Lux finally smiled back.

Katarina pointed at her.

"He knew... Swain knew that my father wasn't here."

"That man?"

"Less man than monster. He knew about the Freljord campaign. He must feel threatened by me if he would approach me in person. Why not just confront my father?"

"So he's not one of the five generals?"

"No, of course not," she huffed. "How could he be? He doesn't have any family, any history. And yet... I'll admit he has become very powerful. Men seem to follow him blindly. His officers promote him, demote themselves even, just to ally themselves with him. And he hates my father. I know he does."

"Why would he hate your father?"

"Normally, power struggles are nothing personal," she explained. "Power respects power, but Swain is different. His power is unnatural, like some kind of demon."

Lux didn't deny that she had found the man incredibly disturbing. There was something about the way he had looked at her, she couldn't quite describe it. It was as though he wanted... to have her, or use her, or...

This line of thought was disturbing her.

"He's said before, in public, that he believes Noxus is infected with weakness," Katarina continued. "It's an indirect challenge to the High Command that he intends to bring change."

"And you think he means your father."

"He despises the aristocracy. He's painted a target on our backs, and that's why... he must be up to something."

And here Lux thought Noxians to be drone-like, but they were clearly diverse. The way Katarina talked, it was like there was a secret war within Noxus.

Katarina crossed her arms and blew a strand of bright red hair out of her face.

"Whatever," she sighed.

Minutes passed with no sign of General Du Couteau. The clock ticked. The two of them occasionally glanced at each other without speaking.

"I've found a teacher for you," Katarina finally said. "While I'm gone."

"Oh," Lux simply replied. She hadn't thought about what she would do in Katarina's absence. She had been so preoccupied with her meeting with the general.

"His name is Tanis. You probably haven't heard of him. He's a mage living near the manor, a real mage, not like Boaz. He'll be able to help you glean knowledge you need from Witherwood better than you would by yourself."

Tanis! The elderly leader of the Sprig of Silver responsible for getting Reginald the job at Blacktorch and approving Lux's mission had finally made his move. She hadn't heard anything from him until now.

"Do you mind?"

"Do I mind?" Lux asked, raising her head.

"You prefer to learn alone, don't you?" Katarina asked.

Lux was surprised. It was true. She didn't give Katarina enough credit for her intuition. She was very good at reading people. This fact gave Lux more reason to question how she had managed to deceive her.

"I've learned..." Lux decided to reply. "...from your training, that some things cannot be stolen... They have to be given."

Katarina's eyes very briefly betrayed affection.

"I'll be honest. I wish you were coming with me," Katarina admitted. "But I suppose I'll have your boyfriend for company."

She burst into laughter at Lux's response.

"He's cute, I'll admit," she continued. "At least a few years older than you. Nice catch."

"It was like you said," Lux's face grew red. "He was a means to an end. His... attractiveness... was a perk."

"Uh huh..." Katarina closed her eyes resignedly and leaned back in the leather chair. She raised one eyelid slyly, still watching Lux. She looked at the kunai sitting on the glass surface in front of her and picked it up.

"So... you're saying he's fair game?"


	12. Crypt of the Archtemplar

Lux awoke early, just like any other training day, only to find herself in an empty mansion.

Katarina was gone, along with her sister. The servants minded their own business as Lux found herself standing in an empty courtyard, rubbing her eyes. The gardener who normally waited until breaks in their training to manage the grounds was already busy trimming brushes. He looked up at Lux briefly before turning back to his work.

"So now what?" Lux yawned to herself.

She wandered back up to her room and washed up.

The chest at the foot of the bed held her normal clothes, equipment and cloak, so she got them out and laid them on the bed. She took out her wand and examined it. Katarina hadn't allowed her to use her wand during their combat training, so she'd stored it here. Most of their training had revolved around Lux responding to Katarina's attacks, but Lux suspected that she might actually be afraid of this wand's power.

Lux ran her hands over the petrified wood and allowed the magical energy to pulse through it. The wand became one with her. It made her feel incredibly powerful.

Her hand stopped on one of the focal gems, grasped by the limb-like claws of the wand. A hairline fracture ran across its surface!

"My wand!"

When had this happened? It was such a valuable, powerful object. Had someone damaged it when her equipment was confiscated by the prison guards?

She immediately used the wand to test it, casting a singularity of light. The ball of light spun, barely affecting the morning daylight. It's strength was clearly weaker than normal.

In a small panic, Lux next cast a sphere of dark matter, a powerful spell that repelled anything it came in contact with. The sphere hummed, swirling blackness, hovering as if a hole in the universe, completely motionless, before diminishing into oblivion. The spell had been perfect, powerful.

Lux stared at the wand in her hand. It was a Noxian wand. Maybe it had an affinity for darker magic. She decided that the fracture, however long it had been there, wasn't causing any adverse effect.

She hadn't been using Luminosity lately. Maybe that was why the spell was weak...

Tanis's residence, she decided, would be her next destination. Katarina had instructed her to seek him out for 'magical training' during her absence. Lux was less interested in being trained and more eager to talk to Tanis about the Sprig of Silver. She also wanted to know if he'd heard from Reginald.

She had never gotten the opportunity to say goodbye to Reginald. She knew that Katarina had put him under her command for whatever military campaign she was undertaking in the Freljord.

The Freljord was a vast, northern country of mostly snow and ice. Within it, tribes of people and other creatures roamed its territory. From what Lux had learned, it would be like stepping back in time, journeying there, to a land absent of modern government and technology. Its terrible climate was so fierce that none of the more powerful nations had attempted to lay claim to it.

Until now, perhaps.

What did the High Command want with the Freljord? More specifically, what was Marcus Du Couteau's role? Maybe Tanis knew.

She opened the front door of the manor. The expanse of the front garden lay in front of her.

"Going somewhere?" Talon asked from beside the door.

"Talon! I'm... going to see my new trainer," Lux replied warily. His arm cast was finally gone, replaced by his favorite blade. "Katarina said his name is Tanis."

"And I suppose you know where he lives?"

"Oh," Lux simply said, caught off-guard. "No, I guess I don't."

The map Reginald had given her was still tucked away in her satchel.

"I'm taking you," he said, stone-faced, stepping away from the wall he was leaning on.

"You sound thrilled."

As usual, Talon didn't react, walking passed her.

"I am ecstatic."

Lux was almost certain that Talon's arm hadn't healed properly yet. He had refused magical healing, yet he complained about being unable to 'work'. She imagined that wearing a heavy blade on a fractured arm would not help the healing process.

Like Katarina, Talon preferred to walk. The two of them were similar in many ways, likely because of their shared profession of silent death. But while Katarina was cool and refined in her manner, Talon was brash and unapologetically uncouth. Nearly every soldier they passed in the street turned to give him a dirty look, to which Talon would sneer or outright insult. In no circumstance did these soldiers turn aggressive, but their animosity was apparent.

Talon must have done some terrible things to Noxus's soldiers before working for the Du Couteau's.

Lux, in the short time she'd spent in his company, had come to respect Talon, despite his rough edges. He was unequivocally devoted to the Du Couteau's. Marcus's mercy (or whatever they called it in Noxus) had won his family all the protection they needed.

It had become apparent to her that Katarina, in choosing Lux, had followed a similar train of thought. She had adopted a powerful, potentially-deadly mage into her family's service. However, the way she'd done it wasn't so much mercy as blackmail, and her chosen servant was, as it turned out, a spy loyal to Demacia.

Talon much better fit the part of someone born and raised in the streets. He was hardened and merciless. While Sinistra supposedly had a similar upbringing, Lux failed to portray any kind of coldness or ruthlessness, as hard as she tried. This probably made her appear weak.

So Talon and Lux couldn't be more different, yet they seemed to get along, ever since she'd 'saved' him from Ayer. Though 'getting along' only meant that Talon's deadly eye had moved on to other marks.

They didn't share a word the entire journey.

There were a surprising amount of residencies in the college district and probably the fewest amount of soldiers per square-foot. They did see a group of would-be soldiers performing training exercises in a large courtyard connecting the major streets. The buildings were tall but pressed together with steps leading up from the cobblestone to the raised front doors of the residences. Tanis was waiting for them on his front door, hands behind his back.

"Welcome," he called out calmly. "You must be Sinistra."

Talon remained at the bottom of the steps, his eyes briefly studying Tanis before scanning the street. Lux climbed the steps and stood in front of her leader.

"I received a letter from General Marcus that I would be responsible for your studies indefinitely. Let me show you my home."

His performance was flawless. You would think that he'd never seen Lux before in his life.

"I'll be back here at sundown," Talon called up to Lux. He readjusted his blade with his other arm before walking off without looking back. His bladed cloak swayed unevenly as he slinked away to morning work.

"Ayer certainly did a number on him," Tanis said quietly, adjusting his spectacles. "Let's step inside."

Lux had been spending too much time in the Du Couteau manor, because her first impression of Tanis's home was its quaintness. The hall was barely head-height, and the library to their left was messy, covered in books as though the bookshelves had sneezed.

Tanis's hand stroked his white goatee as he stepped into the library. His tone turned to business immediately.

"We'll visit Blacktorch tonight and get you direct access to the magical archives. The General's instructions here are to train you into the most potent of Noxian magic, and that's where they'll be. Hmm... Isn't it ironic that his ambition is for you to perform the same tasks you did for the Sprig?"

"The thought had occurred to me," Lux responded meekly. The thought of returning to the library both excited her and reminded her of Reginald.

"How is Reginald?" she asked. "Have you heard from him?"

"Ah!" Tanis smiled. "Yes, let me show you something very interesting. You remember that creature that guarded the magical archives?"

Lux recalled the lizard-like creature that was invisible to the naked eye.

"Reginald called it 'Ulyaoth'. It was a summoning spell."

"More than that!" Tanis whispered excitedly. "But I'm getting ahead of myself."

He walked her over to a corner of the library where most of the books were still on the wall. The small table there was instead covered with notepaper and folders. Maps had been pinned on the bookshelves. Tanis picked up a small, oval mirror with a beaded metal edge.

At his touch, the mirror surface lit up, shimmering a white-blue. The image flickered and crackled, humming with the familiar sound of magic.

"This is summoning magic!" Lux recognized.

A vision of a Noxian soldier appeared. The image was unclear, very light with blotches of white distortion obscuring it. The black armor poked out from a thick, brown cloak with fur fringes. Lux realized that the distortion they saw was a blanket of falling snow. The soldier paused and turned, revealing Reginald's face. It was hard and bright-red, slightly unshaved. He glanced around at the air, as if looking for something. Lux marveled at this magical object.

"Can he see us?"

"No, fortunately the effect is one-way, which is how our espionage will remain a secret."

"How... is this possible, Tanis?" she asked, staring at the image.

"Your reports from the library mission, I admit, fascinated me. And I did a bit of research. That guardian, Ulyaoth, was more than just a guardian. It was... a living ward."

"A living ward? I've never heard of that before."

"The magic is incredible," Tanis handed the mirror to her. "The summoned creature is invisible to all but those with true-vision and relays everything it sees through a portal, like this. In Reginald's case, I was able to summon a small sparrow, through whose eyes we now look. I named it 'Popcorn'."

He chuckled. Lux turned to Tanis in astonishment.

"Tanis... You're a... a summoner?"

Tanis smiled.

"I am a scholar, and one of my primary studies is summoning magic. It is one of the services I have promised to Noxus in exchange for my position at Witherwood."

Lux relaxed.

"You're not going to read my mind, are you?" she half-joked.

"No," he assured her. "No, only the most powerful of summoners are allowed to study such magic."

"Wait, so if Ulyaoth is a living ward, doesn't that mean that we were being watched at Blacktorch?"

Tanis raised his hands in assurance.

"Interestingly, one of the side-effects of this magic is that true-vision destroys the spell. When you cast the light of true-vision on such a creature, the spell will be broken. Reginald, if I recall, did get in trouble for that... But no one to my knowledge knew that you were there, otherwise I doubt even Katarina would have been able to prevent your imprisonment."

Lux looked at the image of Reginald. On second observation, it did look like the image was fluttering around him. Suddenly, it raced towards Reginald's shoulder and turned black.

"Poor thing... It probably got cold."

Lux put down the mirror, but she kept looking back at it.

"How often do you hear from him?"

"I'll get a report from him once every two weeks. That's the plan anyway. We should be able to track the movements of Katarina's forces with ease. Now, Sinistra, I must work. Feel free to take advantage of the library here until we visit Blacktorch this afternoon."

The sound of falling books caused him to flinch. He stepped back towards the middle of the library and arched his neck upwards.

"Bethany?"

An orange-red braid of hair emerged from a pile of books on the upper balcony, revealing the freckled face of a young girl, possibly the same age as Lux, wearing glasses. Tanis was beside himself.

"Bethany... How long have you been there?"

"Like, the whole time," she replied, pressing her finger into her cheek innocently.

"You do realize that it's disrespectful to spy on your own father?"

Bethany rested her arms on a pile of books. She grinned broadly.

"I'm just getting practice for when you finally let me be a spy. And you never talk about interesting things when I'm around, so..."

"Get down here!" Tanis bristled, his voice shifting from academic to fatherly. The girl took off her glasses and slid down the spiral banister, braid trailing behind her.

"Woah!"

Her laced shoes touched down effortlessly. She wore long socks and a school uniform with a medium length skirt. Her braid was so long it nearly reached the floor. She walked up to Lux and extended her hand.

"Bethany Gale," she smiled.

They shook hands. She was a bit taller than her. There was a playfulness in her eyes that Lux found pleasant. She glanced between her and Tanis, a little confused.

"My adopted daughter," Tanis explained. "She's a native Noxian as well. I've raised her here since she was a little girl."

"He tried to hide the fact that he was a Demacian," Bethany continued for him. "But I figured it out. So I'm part of the Sprig too!"

"No, you are certainly not," Tanis corrected, putting his hands on the hips of his robe. "You are a student."

Bethany turned to Lux, forgetting her foster-father.

"Oh my gosh, Lux, you are so awesome! I bet you've done tons of dangerous stuff."

Lux smiled sheepishly, uncertain how to react to this kind of praise. It had been many years since she'd been around anyone her own age.

"Her name is 'Sinistra'," Tanis interjected. Bethany stuck out her tongue at him.

"They talk about you at school, 'Sinistra'. Everyone there knows that you work for the Du Couteau's and that you broke into Blacktorch. You're like a celebrity... Oh my gosh, you should come visit the school!"

"No!" Tanis shouted accidentally.

"They know... who I am, at the school?" Lux asked

"Not that you're you," Bethany crossed her legs. "Just Sinistra, the Noxian... that you came from the streets and now you're an assassin for Katarina."

An assassin... So they already thought of her as a murderer like them.

"Do you think that's 'cool'?" Tanis chastised her.

"Dad, oh my gosh," Bethany threw her hands up. "Didn't you say you were busy?"

"Yes... Yes, that's right. Bethany, you can talk to Sinistra, but please don't distract her from her studies for too long."

"Yes, daddy," she smiled innocently.

Tanis started to walk away methodically, then stopped.

"Sinistra, we should talk about... Nevermind, we'll discuss it later. I'll be back in a few hours."

Lux nodded, assuming he meant he wanted to talk about her as-of-yet-undiscussed act of insubordination.

Bethany sidled beside her.

"Need help with anything?"

"I don't even know where to start," Lux replied, getting a chance to take in the library. "There's so much here."

"It's almost all related to magic," Bethany said, like it was a bad thing. "Oh, but I'm sure you'll love it. I mostly read the history books and the combat scrolls. Those things are awesome! I'm pretty good with a whip myself..."

She turned to Lux, looking at all the equipment she was wearing.

"You look like you could jump into battle at any moment. Is it true you fought Katarina?"

Lux smiled. "A lot of times, yes. We trained together almost every day."

"Woah, scary." She sat down on the desk and kicked her heels against it. "I'm kind of jealous."

Bethany reminded Lux of one of her grade-school friends in Demacia, but she couldn't think of her name... It was so long ago since she had found friends her own age.. She had entered the College of Magic at the age of ten, and from then on her life of study was surrounded by people older than her, looking down on her...

"What's she like?"

"Who?"

"Katarina, of course," Bethany said.

"Oh, Katarina... She's pretty intense."

Bethany picked up her braid and twisted it in her fingers.

"Have you seen her kill anyone?"

"Er, yes," was all Lux could say, not wanting to remember that day in the Grimoire.

"What do you carry in your satchel?" Bethany asked, glancing at Lux's hip.

"Here," Lux unclasped it from her belt and handed it to Bethany, who proceeded to empty its contents enthusiastically on the desk. The map of Noxus unfolded partially over everything, which Bethany set aside.

"What's this?" Bethany asked, picking out a folded piece of colored paper.

"Oh, that's... It's a page from a League program. I forgot that was in there."

"There's something else in here," Bethany added, producing some other piece of paper from between the folds. She glanced over it, then made a small squeal of surprise.

"Lux," she said, hand over her mouth. "This is from Ayer?"

"What?" Lux nearly shouted in surprise. She leaned into the desk and looked over Bethany's shoulder.

Bethany handed her a piece of paper that had been warped by water damage and was smudged with dirt.

_My dear Sinistra,_

_I fear that our time together has been too short. This may be the end of me. You must finish the work that I've started and end this terrible plot. I know that to you they are your family, but I hope that my affection for you will be enough to give you the strength to stop them. This tyranny must end._

_21 8 14 2, Archtemplar_

_-Ayer_

"These numbers..." said Bethany. "What do they mean?"

But Lux was distracted by another portion of the letter.

His... affection?

\------------------------

Lux sat in the Ivory Ward, a large book in her lap. Tanis had agreed to let her roam the city with possession of General Du Couteau's letter (marked with the High Command's seal), more than sufficient paperwork for the many guards she might encounter. It had been weeks since she'd been on the streets without some kind of escort.

A colorful juggler entertained a collection of onlookers nearby. Somewhere children laughed. The smell of fresh baked goods filled the air with a delicious aroma. But Lux wasn't in the mood to indulge herself.

_21 8 14 2_

What did they mean? It had been two weeks since they had found the letter, and neither Lux nor Bethany had been able to determine the meaning of these mysterious numbers. None of the books from Tanis's library had been helpful.

She held Ayer's letter between the pages of a book she had just checked out of Blacktorch. Tanis took her there every day now for her to study the magical archives. He had gotten written consent from General Du Couteau for her to have restricted access.

But Lux had spent the better part of the last two days in other areas of Blacktorch Library instead, scouring maps and cyphers in an effort to discern this one code left by Ayer. She hadn't worked out the meaning of the numbers, but she had found the name 'Archtemplar' referenced over a hundred times in this particular book, an historical tome concerning Noxus's distant past.

Archtemplar, she found, was an old, Noxian family, hundreds of years old. It was hard to imagine, but long before the High Command was established, Noxus was a city-state among many in the region. The Archtemplar family was one of the nation's most powerful and in that time, the city-state was not controlled by a High Command but by an organization known as The Black Rose.

She had heard this name mentioned before, by the warlock that had attacked her in the Grimoire. He had mentioned something about a new matron.

The Black Rose did not govern by military power but through magic. There was no Institute of War or League of Legends to keep magical power in check, and in those days magic seemed limitless. Noxus's true philosophy, that only the strong survive, was never more true than during these dark times. Those that did not comply with the will of The Black Rose were obliterated, terrorized or simply disappeared through the use of dark, now-forbidden magic.

But other households began to rise up and challenge The Black Rose. When the threat of foreign powers like Demacia began to loom, Noxus's elite turned their eyes towards military might. The Black Rose, governed by a kind of religious approach to magic, had refused to become a tool for military force. In response, a massive coup was undertaken, led by...

"Tiberius Du Couteau."

Lux stared at the name. Katarina's ancestor. The Du Couteau family had played a major role in the downfall of this organization: The Black Rose. Tiberius famously wore anti-magical armor forged by a Black Rose defector. He used it to kill D'Anjou Archtemplar, the most powerful of the dark mages opposed to militarization.

So 'Archtemplar' was one of the old families of The Black Rose, but what was it's significance now? The Black Rose was, for all she knew, completely gone. Katarina had said as much before. Perhaps a few Noxians lingered as remnants of this dead religion? Was there an Archtemplar in Noxus?

She had her first clue. But the numbers were still a mystery to her.

A small whistle caught her ear.

Looking around, she saw nothing at first, save for the casual visitors to the Ivory Ward. Then she heard it again, and was certain that it had come from the alleyway nearby.

Closing the book, she put it away in her satchel and approached the alley. It looked empty in the daylight.

"Sinistra, over here!" came a small voice. Now she recognized it.

"Cecil? Is that you?"

Lux stepped over bags of smelly garbage, looking for the source of the yordle's voice. He popped out from behind a metal bin.

"There, I found you!" he smiled, shaking his fur.

"Cecil, have you been following me?" Lux asked.

"It isn't easy, you know. Yordle's aren't allowed in this part of Noxus. I have to use the sewers and the catacombs. Yuck!"

"Cecil, please go back to your family," Lux pleaded. "It's not safe for you here."

"It's not safe here for you," the boy argued. "Reginald asked me to protect you, so here I am! Watcha reading?"

Lux huffed, exasperated. The last thing she needed was to babysit a yordle kid.

"I have an important mission, Cecil. You see this?"

She pulled out Ayer's note.

"I need to figure out what this means. It could mean saving Ayer's life. That's why I have to stay here. That's why I'm in danger!"

"Oh, I see. Hmm..."

The yordle scratched his furry face, snatching the note from her.

"Oh, yeah. I recognize this."

"What?"

"Shh!" Cecil chided her. "Yeah, that's a crypt code. No question. They're all over the catacombs."

Lux was dumbfounded. No one in Noxus used the old catacombs these days. They used the mausoleum in Noxus Proper.

"Archtemplar is a family name, right?" he guessed.

"Yes! Oh, Cecil, I think you're right! It's a marked grave!"

The little yordle beamed, drawing his tiny blade. "Ha! I can lead you to it!"

"OK, great. So you know where it is?"

He smiled broadly, raising his weapon. "I have no idea!"

Lux's enthusiasm diminished immediately. Cecil sheathed his sword.

"But we've got a clue. It's somewhere in the catacombs!"

"Cecil, the catacombs are a huge underground network full of deadly creatures and traps. We can't just go looking around for a single crypt."

"It's safe, Sinistra," Cecil insisted. "Mostly giant spiders and rats."

Giant spiders and rats, Lux thought. How comforting...

Cecil rested his paw on her leg.

"You've got me, remember? Besides the crypts are numbered for a reason. We can use the numbers to find the right one."

"I don't know... Cecil, it's not that I don't trust you..."

He crossed his arms and closed his eyes and nodded. His small sheath banged against his side.

"You can count on Cecil!"

Lux reluctantly agreed to follow him. Cecil led her through the small alleys away from the regular streets until they reached a stretch of cobblestone that had fallen away, revealing a passage underground. The brave yordle jumped right in.

"Cecil?" Lux called after him before slowly crawling down into the hole. The stones were slippery and she nearly lost her footing twice. There were no lights down here and the cavern was practically indiscernible.

"Cecil!" she called out, greeted by an unpleasant echo. Without delay, she used her wand to produce a ball of light, which glowed dimly. To her dismay, the light was insufficient, barely providing light more than a few feet forward.

Something was wrong. Why was her light so dim now? It seemed even weaker than in had a few weeks ago. It couldn't be the wand, could it? The light quickly flickered out, leaving her in darkness.

Hesitantly, she produced a ball of flame magic instead that immediately lit up the darkness. It hovered near the tip of her wand, allowing her to see Cecil's figure stalking forward in the distance, sword drawn.

"Safe," he whispered, ushering her forward. Yordles had the luxury of sight in dark places and a terrific sense of smell. He wandered far ahead of her as they traversed.

Unsettling noises occasionally rang out in the darkness. Lux thought for a moment that she saw the tail-end of a child-sized rat. She hoped that this was just her imagination taking advantage of her.

The catacombs, just like the one she'd explored near the docks, were a mess of dry bones. So many Noxians had been left underground here without a family crypt. Many may have been unidentified bodies. Lux wondered if these catacombs were still actually in use.

"This is creepy..." Lux muttered, struggling to maintain constant sight of Cecil. If she lost track of him, she wasn't certain there would be any hope of finding an exit.

"Here," Cecil called out, still whispering. He pointed to a smooth slab of stone on a wall. "Here's a crypt."

_24 8 125 3_

"One of the numbers matches the letter," Lux noted, with evident relief in her voice.

"I think this means we're on the wrong floor," Cecil said, pointing to the first number.

"What do you mean 'wrong floor'?"

Cecil pointed to a stairwell not far from them. Many of the steps had crumbled away.

"Oh... Great..." Lux groaned.

Descending the stairwell was treacherous. The walls here had very sticky spiderwebs, but luckily no sign of spiders. It was likely that they were averse to firelight.

After descending a few floors, they searched for another crypt.

_21 8 125 5_

Two numbers matched now. Lux hoped they were close.

Cecil bristled his whiskers at some smell and adjusted his cape.

"Maybe not safe," he surmised, looking down one passage. He pointed towards another and continued on.

After ten minutes of searching, Lux's firelight happened upon a curious corpse. Unlike the rest of them, this one looked recently deceased. Sitting against the wall, it was clothed in a ripped-up coat, both its hands resting on its chest, as if they had once been holding some object. It was picked clean to the bones, yet the body seemed preserved in the position it had died in.

"Yuck, unlucky!" said Cecil. "What was he doing down here?"

"What are _we_ doing down here?" Lux emphasized. Maybe this poor soul, had he been living, could assist them.

Not far from the corpse, they finally came to the appropriate crypt number.

"See?" Cecil smiled. "Easy!"

A low growl echoed in response through the catacombs, causing Cecil to jump.

"Let's... uh... open it quick," he suggested.

Lux set her wand against the wall and ran her hands over the dust-covered stone. The crypt was indeed loose! It took some effort, but both of them eventually pried the stone open, revealing a dark and smelly hole.

With incredible reluctance, Lux entered. But inside was not as she suspected at all. The firelight revealed not a tomb but a room!

Spent candles and unkempt papers littered this small space. The walls were adorned with illustrations and maps. It looked like some kind of hideout.

Was this where Ayer made his plans? What secrets of Noxus were hidden here?

There was one small desk, and five illustrations in particular were curiously laid out on it. Each drawing was coarse and amateurish. Perhaps Ayer had drawn them himself. Underneath each illustration was a name. Three of them stood out to her.

The first one was Boaz, the mage who Ayer had killed. And next to his name was written the term 'Merx'. The term looked like it had been added later. Boaz's illustration looked just as disgruntled as he had in life.

"Poor man," Lux sighed.

The second was more curious. The hairy face and eye-patch belonged to the warden that had interrogated her at the prison.

The third picture was someone Lux had never seen before. It was a picture of the soft face of a woman in what looked like stage make-up, with menacing painted eyes and lips, neck framed by a flamboyant cloak, and a headdress like peacock feathers. Underneath this woman's face was written the name 'LeBlanc' and next to it in different ink 'Ishtar'.

"LeBlanc," Lux quietly whispered the name.

The woman's face... Lux couldn't describe it, but it looked somehow familiar.

"Look, Sinistra, this one has your name on it!"

"What?" Lux turned around in surprise, almost dropping the illustrations. The yordle held a smaller piece of paper and handed it to Lux.

She looked at the illustration. It was a full portrait of a woman with long hair and almond eyes.

"That's not you," Cecil observed.

Lux stared at the image of the pretty woman and the handwritten name 'Sinistra'. This illustration looked different than the others. It was more skillfully drawn, like it had been drawn from reference. She hesitantly added it to the others and put them in her satchel.

"Wow, this is a neat hideout!" said Cecil. "Do you think anyone is using it?"

"Not anymore..." Lux observed. The place looked like it hadn't been visited anytime recently.

"Hmm..." Cecil seemed to be thinking to himself, glancing all over the room. "I like it."

Lux left the yordle to his thoughts as she scanned the room for any additional information. She looked at a corkboard on the wall that had pins on it. One map was of the political district, with one particular building circled in red. Not thinking she would return, she grabbed this as well.

Cecil suddenly let out a loud cry and hit her leg with his body, causing her to drop her wand. The firelight vanished, enveloping them in pure darkness.

Lux struggled to retrieve the wand, which had rolled under the table. Next to her, she could hear Cecil sniveling in terror.

Lux picked up her wand and immediately re-lit it, revealing Cecil curled up on the ground, cowering.

"Cecil, what's wrong?" Lux rushed to his side.

He said nothing, his fur shaking, his lip quivering. He looked like he was in pain.

Not knowing what to do, she picked him up and attempted to comfort him, he started to convulse.

"No!" he cried out. "Stop!"

He sounded helpless.

"Cecil, it's OK," Lux held his head, trying to keep from dropping him. "What's wrong?"

A quick glimpse of Cecil's horrified face betrayed a certain direction. Lux turned and saw a large envelope on the ground. On its cover was an unfamiliar emblem with a title below it in large letters: Zaunite Chemical Weapons Program.

The entrance of the crypt started to bang, followed by the sound of frantic scratching. An object flashed in and out of the crack they had left in the opening, like it was trying to make its way inside. Lux could here the sound of chattering behind it.

Something was out there!

The chattering grew.

Many somethings...


	13. The Prisoners of Ionia

Lux's eyes darted around the paper-covered walls of the former crypt. There was only one way out, and through it was a fight. 

"Cecil?"

Lux tried to rouse the yordle, who had become rigid, eyes open. Her anxious touch prompted a few small squeals from him. He turned towards Lux.

"Mom?"

He was staring off at some point beyond her. She looked at him, wide-eyed.

What was wrong with him?

A loud 'thump' knocked dust from the walls and the crypt door shoved further open. A giant spider's head pressed through the gap, screeching.

Lux jabbed her wand forward, warding it back with the fire. The spider recoiled, and through the opening the firelight revealed a host of spider brethren. Their cries echoed far into the tunnels.

"Cecil, we need to get out of here!"

She grabbed the envelope and stuffed it under her belt. She decided to leave behind whatever else was here. Better to flee now than be trapped. She carried Cecil up into her arms.

"I'm not dying in some tomb."

She kicked open the crypt door, causing the spiders to scatter briefly. They were, each of them, bigger than Cecil, hairy and bulbous. Lux stepped into the corridor and swung the fire around her in a circle. Every direction looked the same. The spiders slowly approached, crawling over skeletons.

"Where do I go?"

She glanced at her companion, who was now awake and looking at the spiders, his rodent-like teeth bared. He squirmed and fell out of Lux's grip, landing on all fours, and his make-shift cape spun slightly around his neck.

The spiders immediately lunged forward at him, all together. Lux reacted quickly, bringing the wand to her hip with a spin, firing a bolt of lightning from its opposite end. This wand's unique design allowed her to cast two spells, one from each end! A couple of spiders were launched backwards, spinning. The focal gems crackled with energy.

Cecil, head still lowered, drew his tiny blade. His little body seemed tense.

"Steady..." he whispered. "Hold them back... Back... Back to the shadows!"

His head shot up, a fire in his eyes.

"This way, Lux!"

He jumped forward at them, swinging wildly. The three spiders in his way did flinch, but they wouldn't budge, dodging Cecil's strikes by hugging the floor. They're front legs kicked at him angrily.

"Um... Out of the way!" Cecil growled.

Lux's wand smacked into the middle spider, sending it into the wall on their left with a creak. The other two spiders hissed before leaping out of the way of the fireball that exploded where they had just been standing. Little flames lingered in the cracks between the broken stone.

Lux tossed her wand into her left hand, and without hesitating picked Cecil up by the collar of his cape, causing him to spin. With a small tug, he landed in her arm. They ran.

"Just tell me how to get out of here," she yelled, striking a spider that had dropped from the ceiling. It instantly became entombed in solid ice. She held the fiery end of her wand forward to ward off the remaining spiders before them. "I'll handle the rest."

Magical energies were swirling all around them in the darkness. The spiders seemed to hesitate following. A couple of them were curled upside-down. But once they moved, they crawled with lightning speed.

Lux breathed heavily, looking over her shoulder as she ran. From the edge of the firelight the spiders would rush forward and stop one after another, disappearing back into the darkness, until one of them leapt forward out of the black, maw open. It landed on Lux's back.

She stumbled and whipped her wand behind her, unable to strike the spider, but the fire must have singed its skin, causing it to let go of her. 

"Urk!"

Cecil was struggling, and Lux almost lost hold of him.

"The stairs!" he yelped, causing Lux to stop. She couldn't see anything outside of the firelight.

"What stairs?"

Everywhere was black. Legs emerged from every inch of the light. They were surrounded. Lux tensed up.

"Nevermind, I'm making my own stairs!"

She raised her wand above her head, fiery side down, and a shockwave ruptured the ceiling, causing rock to fall around them, hitting many of the spiders.

"Hopefully I don't crush us!"

Cecil screamed as they shot up into the air, leaving the remaining spiders below them. A sphere of energy was wrapping around them, protecting them from the impact of hitting the fractured stone. Her wand knocked through the rock like it was loose dirt. They were ascending through multiple floors of stone. The noise of the impacts were like muted explosions.

Daylight broke around them as they emerged onto the streets of Noxus, populated streets.

The people around them stared in fright at the site of the broken cobblestone, where Lux and Cecil had come from. Lux fell to her knees as a cloud of dust flew up from the hole, covering the whole vicinity.

Under the protection of the limited visibility, Lux quickly slipped into a nearby alleyway. The attempted calm of soldiers yelled over the frightened cries of the citizens.

"Are you OK, Cecil?"

No response. The yordle's body had gone limp.

"Cecil?"

She laid him on the street, immediately checking his vitals. His skin felt cold under his fur, and his face had become incredibly pale.

Lux pulled the cape off him, revealing a throbbing bite mark on his furry chest.

"Oh my gosh... Hang on, Cecil!"

She took off her purple cloak and wrapped Cecil in it. She struggled to lift his weight back onto her shoulder. His small body was lifeless. She moved quickly.

"This is why I wanted you..." she said helplessly as she ran. "...to go home!"

If anyone caught them, they would be immediately arrested. She had to get him somewhere safe, but fast. The merchant district was miles away, past hundreds of Noxian soldiers and citizens.

There was only one place to take him. It was only a couple of streets away.

There were so many students up ahead, out for drinks after a long day of school, but they all seemed unusually lively. They must have all heard the noise coming from where Lux had just arrived. They were congregated in small groups, chattering and looking at the dust cloud that had formed above the rooftops. Lux did her best to pass quickly along the side of the road without drawing attention to herself.

She paused as she came to the final intersection. She could see Tanis's house. She could also see the soldiers talking quickly to one another, probably concerning the explosions they'd just heard a few minutes ago.

She memorized the layout of the street in front of her as she took one of the glass vials from her utility belt and threw it out into the street. The glass broke against the cobblestone, and the liquid inside exploded into a large cloud of purple haze. The people around her gasped and began to try and move away. One particularly jumpy girl screamed.

Lux closed her eyes and ran through the smoke in the way Katarina had trained her. Without looking, her hearing allowed her to move between the noisy people in the smoke. She dodged around the street lamps and under a parked carriage before running successfully up onto Tanis's doorstep.

The door was locked. She pounded on it loudly as the magic smoke was starting to disperse.

Tanis flung open the door, amazed at the sight of the street in front of him. Lux ducked under him and ran inside without hesitation.

"Sinistra?"

He closed the door immediately.

"Is that a-"

"Tanis!" Lux sprawled Cecil's body onto the floor. "He needs medical attention! He's not moving!"

"My word!" Tanis fell to the floor and immediately began to check for vitals. "He's still breathing," he confirmed.

"His name is Cecil. He's just a child!"

"Yes, I can see that," Tanis said quickly, examining the spider bite. "Luther would know what to do here."

"Don't you have any healing magic?" Lux asked desperately.

"Don't you?" he replied.

Lux shook her head tragically.

"I never learned, and all of the magic I've studied here is destructive."

"Spiders typically want their victims alive, but this paralysis could cause long-term damage. We must get the poison out of him immediately."

He stood up and grabbed Lux by the shoulders.

"There is no time to discuss it. This child needs a doctor, but no one in this part of Noxus will treat him. I'm going to take a carriage directly to the Sprig of Silver. Lux..."

Lux flinched.

"I mean, Sinistra... The mirror. Razik is due to report any time now. I need you to pay attention and write down all the information he relays. We can't communicate back to him, so it's important that you stay by it and wait for his broadcast."

Lux nodded as Tanis scooped Cecil back up into the cloak. She followed them nervously to the door.

"Have Luther take him to Bartok's... when he's better," she pleaded. "Don't let him come back."

Tanis looked at her curiously, but nodded. He stepped out into the noisy street and closed the door.

"Cecil, please be safe..."

Lux gripped her wand tightly before lifting and twirling it once in front of her. It had served her well, as had Katarina's training, which had probably saved her life trying to outmaneuver those spiders. But it was the magic that held her memory. It had been so alive and powerful, far beyond what she had accomplished studying in Demacia. It really was an exceptional wand. She snapped it onto the back of her utility belt.

The envelope under Lux's belt dug into her side, and she remembered what she was carrying around. She moved determinedly into the library, blood still pumping with adrenaline.

"Bethany?" she called out. No response.

She unhooked her satchel and set it and the envelope on the desk. In frustration, she picked up a pile of books and dropped them on top of a cardboard box nearby. The clutter was getting to her. She sat down in the wheeled desk chair and shuffled up to her spoils.

The first thing she did was open the envelope. Inside she found a mass of charts and tables of mathematical and scientific data. It all meant nothing to her. She pored over them, discovering illustrations of anatomy somewhat obscured by the sheer amount of math written on the pages. But the handwriting wasn't the same as Ayer's. In fact, she wasn't even sure this information was Noxian. Regardless of what it said, She couldn't make heads or tails of the drawings. She wondered briefly how Ayer had gotten this in his possession.

The city of Zaun, notorious for its fascination with biology, chemistry and other sciences, often pursued ambitions that many would consider immoral and, in some cases, playing God. Lux knew from her personal studies of world politics that Noxus and Zaun had a close relationship, so it was no surprise that a program like this existed. But as to what end, Lux came away empty-handed.

"OK," she said to herself resignedly. She pushed the envelope and its contents aside. Maybe Tanis would find it useful. Moving on...

She pulled out the map of the political district... It showed no descriptions, just holes where she had pulled out unmarked pins and a red circle around a particular house. She folded up the map and put it back in her satchel. She would investigate this next.

That left the curious illustrations Ayer had drawn. She flipped through them, lingering once again on the person named 'Sinistra'. This drawing was clearly unique, like one that had been drawn with care, not clinically like the others.

Now that Lux thought about it... Ayer had always used Lux's real name when they had spoke...

A sharp buzz came from her right.

"Coordinates: 9G, 22M, 20G, 6H2..."

Lux stood up immediately at the sound of Reg's voice.

"Time: 15:26 RCT, August 10th, 20 CLE..."

Grabbing a piece of paper, Lux pushed the chair in front of the magic mirror, copying notes down as the information repeated.

Reg was in a snow-covered forest of tall, bare trees, walking steadily as he talked, occasionally looking behind himself and at his feet. He looked grizzled now and quite Noxian. The bird kept glancing up at the white sky while he talked.

"We passed along the Ironspike Mountains by way of Zaun to the borders of the Freljord, meeting a present force of soldiers already entrenched in the hillside. We are now a force five-thousand strong, enough to make aggressive moves into Freljord territory during its summer thaw. As of now, we have destroyed six barbarian villages and one outpost. There have been no signs of struggle or uprising in response to our numbers."

Lux's mind explored the well-travelled map of Valoran she had memorized as a child. Zaun and Piltover, as city-states participating in the League of Legends, both of them were required by law to report these kinds of activities to the Institute of War. How had Noxus managed to slip an entire army across their borders unnoticed? This wasn't a pacification effort. This was war!

"Katarina is in command and ordering troops to take prisoners. However, the soldiers are generally merciless."

He stopped, lowering the fur hood and glancing around. The bird glanced up at the sky again. This time Lux saw a large raptor hovering overhead.

Why would Noxus move on the Freljord? What political advantage would they gain managing a region with no rule of law?

Reginald moved on, apparently halting his report temporarily. 

Lux grabbed a copy of the Institute of War's _Journal of Justice_ from the desk. Noxus was acting under the notion that the unrest between the Northern Tribes was a diplomatic emergency. Noxus, out of the goodness of their hearts, was sending a hidden army to quell the uprisings under the pretense that they were protecting their trade partners, Zaun and Piltover. Were these city-states hiding Noxus's actions from the Institute for their own gain?

Lux closed her eyes briefly. There had to be some ulterior motive here.

"Raz!" a female voice called from a distance. The broadcast immediately ceased as the bird flew into Reg's coat.

That was Katarina's voice, Lux recognized.

She stared at the now regular mirror. Now she wished that Katarina had taken her to the Freljord. That way she could help Reginald. As much as she disliked war, she hated the notion of innocent people being overrun by an oppressive military force more. Something should be done.

She left the notes on Tanis's desk, along with all her findings from the Archtemplar Crypt. But the map she took.

Maybe this map would lead her to the insight they needed to stop this war, before it got ugly.

Back into the street, the summer sun felt nice on her arms, though she felt a little naked without her beautiful cloak.

She began her ascent up the winding street called Knight's Way, the main road leading to the palace. Walking by herself into unfamiliar territory, it felt like she was following the breadcrumbs left by Ayer. She was continuing the work he had started.

This was what she had wanted all along. She was finally serving Demacia, uncovering the intentions of the evil leaders of Noxus. It felt like she was making a difference!

Following the map, Lux found herself in the political district of Noxus, not far from the gates of General Darkwill's palace. Every building was marked with flags, and there were guards in front of nearly every building, eyeing her as she walked past. She did her best to look like she knew where she was going, having already committed the map to memory.

When she came to the place marked on the map, she was surprised to find a building with a full patrol guarding it, with two guards at the door inside the gate, two outside holding spears, and an armed soldier on horseback. Above the guarded door hung a flag which she recognized immediately. It held the image of a large tree gnarled around a large crystal with water flowing out of it: the crest of the nation of Ionia.

This must be the Ionian Embassy, she thought. To call it an embassy was laughable, considering the Noxian guard blocking its entrance. Lux understood why Ayer had taken note of it. Why it was so guarded was an incredible curiosity.

But she must have lingered too long, because the man on horseback immediately approached her, his horse muttering and shaking its helmeted head.

"Move along, citizen," he scowled, the red hair on his helm waving. "This is a restricted area. Only those authorized by the High Command may approach."

"My apologies!" Lux smiled. "I was just looking. This is the Ionian Embassy, right?"

The guard's eyes narrowed.

"I haven't had to arrest anyone today. It would be a shame to start with you. Tell me now where your intended destination is."

Lux hesitated, which was a mistake. The guard quickly snapped his fingers and gestured for the guards to grab her.

"Wait... I work for Katarina Du Couteau," Lux said in a panic.

"Quiet!" the horseman growled. A helmeted guard took her arm. "Nice try, but Miss Du Couteau isn't even in Noxus."

The helmeted guard took a closer look at her. His companion held his spear forward. Lux was completely surrounded.

"Sinistra?" the helmeted guard muttered.

"What was that, soldier?" asked the officer.

Lux took a good look at her captor, who had curly red hair and a freckled face under his helmet.

"You..." she whispered. "From the bar..."

"Sir," Brandon said to his superior. "I know this woman. She is who she says she is. Her name is Sinistra, mage in service of the Du Couteau's."

The officer bristled, giving Lux a mean look.

"I see... You should know then that the Du Couteau's have been ordered explicitly to stay away from this property?"

"My apologies," Lux said faster than lightning, becoming still. "Katarina failed to tell me so. She had mentioned it in passing, and I thought to speak to the ambassador on their behalf."

"You shall do no such thing, and you can tell her that," the officer grimaced. "Now leave before I change my mind."

Brandon squeezed Lux's arm and let her go. Lux looked back at him thankfully as she retreated. His face looked relieved.

So, there are some good Noxians...

The other guard knocked Brandon in the head with his gauntlet after the officer had turned his horse the other direction. Lux turned a corner quickly and stopped.

"I suppose I'll have to drop in," Lux said to herself mischievously.

She drew her wand and, with a flick of her wrist, lifted herself onto the rooftops. The view from the tops of the buildings revealed quite a view.

A sharp cliff dropped off just behind these properties, all the way down to the bottom. A series of foothills rested below the mountain where the slums of Noxus lay, between the many factories spewing noxious gases into the atmosphere. The shipyard and the merchant district were hidden from view on the other side of the mountain. The slightly-cold wind blew noisily around her. The sun was nearing the horizon to the west.

Lux thought it was really odd how all of the cliffs on this mountain looked like they were man-made, like a giant wall had been constructed once and had worn away into a rugged surface. 

She wondered briefly what it would be like to take flight and float over this huge expanse.

Peering from the top of this roof, she could see the embassy a few buildings down. To her dismay, each window was barred. It really looked less like an embassy and more like a prison, she thought. Lux could barely make out the sight of the soldiers' spears at the front of the property. Through one of the barred windows, Lux thought she caught a glimpse of an elderly woman.

Drawing nearer, she saw that extending over the sheer drop of the cliff was a balcony. On it stood a robed man overlooking the cityscape. He had a long, white beard that reached past his knees. He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing out, making no sign of movement.

Taking this as an opportunity to introduce herself, Lux glanced quickly to make sure there was no visibility from the street before leaping across the rooftops and onto the embassy's balcony. Her landing was silent, save for the sound of wind that slowed her descent. At this, the man turned.

His eyes were the first thing Lux noticed, seeming to want to remain closed, opening only to perceive that which was necessary before closing again.

"You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful assassin I've ever seen." His voice was tired and raspy.

"Me? An assassin?" Lux put her hands on her hips. "Not really. You don't have to worry about me."

"Mmm, I highly doubt that," the man mused, eyes still seemingly closed. He stroked the larger portion of his white beard. "Any kind of visitor here is certainly unwelcome. Who are you?"

"My name is Sinistra," she said plainly. "I work for the house of Du Couteau, and I have some questions for you."

"Du Couteau?" he confirmed wearily. "Then it's worse than I feared. You are here to kill me. Well... It's a great spot. Just a little push off the edge and I'm done for."

Lux shook her head. "I'm not here to kill you. Are you the ambassador for Ionia?"

His arms finally changed positions, crossing in front of his beard.

"You tell me."

"Yousef!" a fragile voice with an Ionian accent called from inside. "Your soup is ready!"

"Nancy," said Yousef. "We have a visitor."

"What, on the balcony? It's not an assassin is it?"

"No, I suspect I'd be dead by now if it was..." The quirky old man sighed and walked past Lux into the house. Lux stood perplexed where she was. The aged figure paused in the doorway and turned around.

"Well, whoever you are... Come in."

Stepping inside the building, the aroma of fresh ginger hit Lux's nose. The room was decorated with numerous cushioned seats of varying colors. The sound of running water came from an indoor fountain in the corner of the room.

The old man had slipped into one of the chairs, rubbing the back of his head.

"I've had enough of this city," he complained. "The pollution makes my skin itch."

Lux looked around for whoever he was talking to.

"Well, sit down," he said. "You might as well have some soup."

"Oh... uh... thank you," Lux managed, sitting in a rather uncomfortable blue chair. It was like sitting on a bag of rice.

An elderly woman shuffled into the room slowing, holding a tray with a large bowl and a few smaller ones. She was dressed in a white kimono with a large, orange blossom pattern.

"Ahhhh, well, hello," she said. Her eyes were almond-shaped, vibrant in spite of her apparent lack of physical strength. "You must be the scary assassin."

"Yes, it was funnier when I said it," mumbled Yousef, waving his hand at her.

"We don't get out much," said Nancy, setting down the tray on the table in front of them. "House arrest and all."

"You're not actually in danger of assassination are you?" Lux asked, concerned.

"Who's to say in this city?" Nancy sighed. "I can't say much for Noxian hospitality, but your entrance says as much about how little good that guard out there would do for us if one came."

"Can we please serve the soup?" grumbled Yousef, poking his wife.

"After seven years here, you sort of get used to the idea that the next day might be your last."

Lux leaned forward. "You've been here for seven years?"

"Soup!"

"Oh yes, ever since the that League of Legends game in Ionia."

Lux remembered. Ionia was a peaceful island province of idealism and spirituality. The fate of its southern provinces had been determined by a simple League match seven years ago, and Noxus had won.

"So you've been serving as ambassadors since then?"

"Serving?" laughed Nancy. "Hardly."

"You're certainly not serving soup!" Yousef stamped his foot as Nancy got around to serving the meal.

"Thank you," Lux said as she was handed a bowl. The smell of it was unfamiliar and revolting.

Nancy sat down next to her husband.

"Now tell us who you really are before we call the guards to come and take you away," Nancy said warmly, sipping her soup.

"Oh! Like I said..." began Lux. "I work for the Du Couteau's and... well... I'm looking for information."

"Well this is nice," smiled Nancy, turning to her husband. "Interrogations aren't normally this pleasant."

"This isn't an interrogation, alright?" Lux put her hands in front of her. "I don't know what they put you through-"

"You don't want to know what they put us through," Yousef muttered forebodingly between sips.

Lux decided to get right down to it. "I'm looking for information on the Zaunite Chemical Weapons Program..."

Yousef choked on his soup. Nancy involuntarily started pounding on his back.

"How... How would you..."

Yousef put down his soup bowl, his eyes finally fully open. They were golden like wheat.

"Who are you really?"

Lux hesitated. She knew nothing about these people. Could she entrust them with the truth about where she came from? They didn't seem friendly to Noxus, but at the same time, what if she told them the truth and they gave her up? They might be interrogated.

"I'm not a Noxian," she revealed. Here was here opportunity to show off her knowledge of history. "I am working as a spy for the northern regions of Ionia to discover the truth about the occupation of Navori, Galrin and Shon-Xan, your home. There have long been rumors that these regions have been experiencing turmoil under Noxus rule. As you know, no one is allowed in or out of Southern Ionia, like it is a prison. And while Noxus enjoys the fruits of Ionian goods and services, perhaps its people suffer."

Lux stood up for dramatic effect, putting down the soup bowl.

"And if they do suffer, we must know. Please, for the good of the Ionian people, tell me what you know about our southern brothers and sisters."

Yousef, in turn, stood up, his eyes closing again.

"What a liar. Grab her, Nancy."

The old woman dropped the soup bowl as her arms stretched to an inhuman length, grabbing Lux by the wrists. Lux almost cried out as the stretching woman jumped over the table and trapped her arms behind her back.

"First of all, I don't believe you," Yousef smiled, still speaking calmly with his hands behind his back. "Second, any information shared with a non-authorized citizen, let alone a fellow Ionian (which you are not), would result in our immediate execution."

"But..." Lux interrupted. "You're an ambassador. You have diplomatic immunity!"

The couple both turned their heads upward and laughed. Yousef folded his arms over his beard.

"You are a Noxian!" he accused. "Look at your arm!"

He pointed to her right shoulder. Lux didn't know how he'd seen it, as the tattoo was currently covered by her black shirt.

"It's soup time!" Yousef howled, and Lux's head was forced over the bowl on the table. She struggled as the strange fumes filled her nostrils. Then the color started to fade from the room. It looked as though a cloud was rising up into the air above her. She forced her head upwards towards the cloud. Everything went black as her eyes rolled back.

_There she was, herself, Lux._

_Lux was a baby. Her brother Garen was stroking her hair._

_Lux was five years old. She was showing her parents how her hands glowed._

_Lux was ten years old. She was accepted into the College of Magic. She was spending a lot of time in libraries._

_Lux was thirteen years old. She was giving a speech. She was accepted into the Academy._

_Lux was sixteen years old. She knew every attack spell in Demacia's libraries. She was accepted into the Security Brigrade._

_She was on a ship bound for Noxus._

_She was at a League of Legends game._

_She was drinking a beer._

_She was being attacked by Katarina._

_She was arguing with Ayer._

_She was holding Cecil in her arms._

_She was smashing a mirror._

_She was kissing Ayer._

_In a circular room with five thrones._

_A mountain of bones._

_Katarina's dagger._

_Lux's lifeless-_

"Stop!" Lux yelled, magical force throwing Nancy backwards and onto the floor. The soup spilled, and Lux fell to the floor.

"Enough," said Yousef, who had sat back down. He stared at the fumes that dissipated above them.

Lux panted heavily, holding her hands on the sides of her head. Seeing her own dead body had panicked her.

"So you are a Demacian spy..." Yousef acknowledged, stroking his beard. Nancy rose quietly to her feet and remained standing behind Lux.

"What... What was that?" Lux sputtered, her face wet with condensation.

"A complex Ionian potion... in soup. My lovely wife is one of our most adept mystics. Your fate as it is written was revealed to us, and apparently also to you."

"Very interesting, Yousef," Nancy acknowledged.

"You are a very powerful mage to have been able to resist the magic. Perhaps you may have tainted the spell with your consciousness."

"You... read my mind?" Lux asked, wiping her face.

"Your fate," Nancy clarified, handing her a towel. "It was revealed from your mind."

"I saw the future?"

"A future. Your future. Perhaps. It is not clear. It is a message to us." Yousef hummed briefly to himself.

Lux shook herself back into the present.

"You knew about the Chemical Weapons Program. What is it? Please tell me."

"No, I will not," Yousef replied simply. "I have told you already that I cannot. I don't care if you're Demacian. I am greatly curious, however, about your spy network."

"You share nothing and then expect me to tell our secrets?" Lux asked incredulously. "You already pried your way into my mind. And how do I know that you aren't working for the Noxians?"

"Damn the Noxians!" Yousef growled. "And damn your Demacia!"

Lux's eyes widened in shock. The old man's eyes were open again, wrinkled and shaking.

"Your nation is to blame for the state we're in. Because of your king now Noxus runs free to pillage our peaceful nation!"

Lux was beside herself. She had never heard such an opinion.

"What are you talking about? Because of Demacia, Noxus was forced to join the League of Legends. Their war machine was stopped! Demacia helped bring peace to Valoran."

"Is that what they taught you in Demacia?" Yousef smirked. "So when Noxus invaded our country, that was peace?"

Lux didn't know how to respond to that.

"Noxus..." Yousef glowered. "...is now the attack dog of the Institute of War. They have not stopped their war machine, as you must know. Their expansionist activities continue against any nation that is not under the Institute's protection, protection only offered to those who join the League of Legends. 

"Where was the Institute of War when Ionia was invaded by Noxus? We had refused to join their League, for we are a peaceful nation and do not support war in any form, especially war for spectacle. So they chose to do nothing to stop Noxus's march of destruction on our southern shores fourteen years ago.

"And so, after Noxus had raped our land, our leaders in the North decided in their infinite wisdom that there was no choice but to join the League of Legends. Our greatest warriors fought for the entertainment of the masses, making light of our ancient arts, shaming our ancestors, for a chance to rescue their suffering southern brothers. 

"And what came of it? Here I am, an example of the shame of Ionia, a prisoner of Noxus. I imagine the tribes of the Freljord will make the same mistake that Ionia did and join that terrible League of Legends. If not now, then later. Either way, the Institute will get what it wants."

"But what does Noxus have to gain from attacking the Freljord?" Lux asked.

"Ionia's one remaining passage of free trade? I am certain that their true motivation is to strangle my northern brothers and sisters into submitting to Noxus."

Of course! This was all about Ionia!

"But what if the Freljord campaign fails?"

"It doesn't matter," said Nancy. "It would only delay the inevitable. The Institute will do nothing once again, unless by some miracle the Freljord unites and joins the League of Legends. And even if our trade route is safe, it will change nothing for us."

"Nothing will change..." Lux's voice grew, impassioned. "...if we do nothing about it!"

"You are brave and young," Yousef grimaced. "Neither bravery nor youth will change the way of the world. This world is ruled by fear and death."

"No," Lux stammered. "I don't believe that! How can you think that?"

"We are old. We have seen more of the world than you. Surely you, having lived in Noxus for some time, have seen that life is not as simple as you once thought."

"Some simple things remain true," Lux struggled to continue. "Light conquers darkness. Good triumphs over evil."

"Demacian justice," Nancy pointed out. "We do not believe in such a thing. There is balance in life. Darkness and light are equal, forever continuing to battle in an eternal struggle. There is no victory but over the self, as the self contains both good and evil."

"Fine," Lux submitted. "The world is out of balance then. We have an obligation to right it!"

"That is not the path of the individual. That is the language of the military, one of the great evils! Are those same words not said by every power? Noxus? The Institute of War? Your Demacia?"

"But... I am here..." Lux was growing weary of her company's lack of faith. "Demacia is here to rescue you!"

"The day that Demacia rescues Ionia is a day that will never come!" Yousef bellowed, standing up. "Your country is now at the mercy of the Institute of War! We are all now their slaves! Your country is forbidden from any course of military action against Noxus. So tell me, child, what exactly can you do?"

Lux looked up at him, helplessly. She didn't know.

"While your people watch their League of Legends, the hidden wars shall rule the fate of Valoran!"

He stormed across the room, looking to leave the room. Lux was suddenly overwhelmed with anger and stood up.

"So you'll do nothing! You're content to live with your people burning from the poisons of Zaun?"

Yousef stopped immediately and slowly turned. His face was white and weary.

"No. No, I would rather die now."

Lux let him walk away through a wall of beads. Nancy rose and rested her hands in her kimono.

"Leave now, little spy. You are no longer welcome."

She exited to follow Yousef, leaving Lux to go.

Lux walked out into the firm wind over the cliffs, she looked down at the southern expanse of the so-called great nation of Noxus.

What could she do?


	14. The Imposter

On the way back to Tanis's home, Lux felt as though she had hit a dead end. She had taken a large risk sticking her neck out and sneaking into the Ionian embassy, and she had nothing to show for it. If anything, she had taken a few steps backwards, because in her anger she'd insulted and upset the ambassador, Yousef. At the very least, she could verify a connection between the chemical weapons documents and the nation of Ionia. Hopefully Tanis would be able to help. Maybe they could put together a strategy glean more information from them.

But first, she stopped by the Du Couteau manor and picked up her orders from Katarina. She didn't open it. Tanis had requested that she take them to him first, sealed. This request had put Lux off a little bit. It seemed controlling. Recent orders had been very simple, for her to continue focusing on her magical studies, to complete her spellbook. But there was always a possibility that Katarina would want her to do something more significant, whatever it might be.

Lux found Tanis at home sitting at his desk, clearly occupied by everything that she had earlier left for him on his desk. As she entered the library, Bethany waved to Lux from the sitting room down the hall.

If it was possible for the library to have somehow become more disorganized, it looked that way. Tanis himself looked energetic, perhaps frazzled. He looked up at Lux and spoke with uncharacteristic impatience.

"Where have you been?"

Lux stopped her approach. She glanced at the paperwork he was holding, Ayer's notes.

"I was following a lead," she began. "I took care of Razik's report, and you hadn't returned yet, so I decided to..."

"What lead?" he interrupted, removing his spectacles. She hadn't noticed before that his face was slightly unshaven around his goatee. "What did you find?"

Lux reluctantly came up to the desk and handed him the map she'd found in the Archtemplar Crypt. He squinted at it.

"This is... The Ionian Embassy."

"Yes, I was just there. I spoke to Yousef."

Tanis's brow furrowed.

"You what?"

There was a moment of silence between them. Lux hadn't expected such a harsh reaction and didn't know what to say.

Tanis immediately stood up and walked out into the hall.

"Bethany, dear, I'd like you to go visit Elsa."

Lux stood waiting, listening to Bethany's reply.

"Sure, Dad. Let me just finish this book."

"Now, please," he insisted, a hint of sternness in his voice.

Bethany complied, glancing at Lux as she walked through the foyer. She was dressed in her school uniform, and her hair was in two braids today. Lux returned a weak smile.

Tanis grabbed a wooden chair from the wall for Lux to sit in as he returned to the desk. He rubbed his left temple with two fingers and met Lux's gaze for a few seconds before speaking.

"I have a lot of faith in you, Lux. You are quite exceptional. I want you to know that."

"Th-thank you," she replied, not expecting a compliment.

"You are one of Demacia's shining examples of excellence. In spite of the challenges that Noxus has presented you with, you have overcome them. You have accomplished things that so many of us have attempted and failed to do.

"But I am concerned," he added after a pause. "Frankly, I'm worried about you."

"But, sir," Lux replied immediately. "You needn't be concerned. It's a soldier's life. My life, for Demacia."

"Your life..." Tanis mused. "Yes, you are quite an exemplar of Demacian service, and I have much faith in your ability to defend yourself. But... Well, truly, I think I have been giving you too much freedom."

"Sir?"

"Look at all of this intelligence, Lux... Where did it all come from?"

"Ayer had it. I found it in his personal hideout in the catacombs."

"Ayer... had all this intelligence?" Tanis looked shocked. "He didn't give it to me..."

Lux was taken aback. 

"This is typical of him..." he muttered. "He is always so coy about his methods and his whereabouts."

Lux's curiosity was piqued. Ayer was such a mystery to her. What did Tanis know that she didn't?

"Tell me," said Tanis, leaning towards Lux. "Your work with the Du Couteau's... Was it Ayer's idea?"

"Oh..."

Lux hesitated, recalling what had happened many months earlier. "Well, no. I mean, that night you were going to send me back to Demacia, he... did give me some advice. I suppose it inspired me to take action. I mean, it wasn't his idea. It was a total coincidence that Katarina happened to be in the merchant district the next day. Ayer didn't even know where I was. I didn't see him for a few days after."

"Hmm..." Tanis scratched his chin. "So he took you under his wing? That explains why he volunteered to look after you. It was very uncharacteristic of him."

"Please don't suspect Ayer to have ulterior motives," Lux insisted. "After everything he's done for the Sprig, and for me..."

"Oh, I absolutely expect him to have ulterior motives," Tanis boasted. "You haven't known him for as long as we have. I was here when he first joined the Sprig of Silver. Did he tell you why he joined us?"

Lux put her hands on the table.

"No..."

"Well, he was quite a patriot before. He comes from a long line of proud Noxians, the Archtemplar family."

The Archtemplar! It was his family's crypt!

"That was the name of the crypt he made his hideout in!"

"Ha," Tanis smirked. "Clever. No one uses the old crypts anymore. They built a mausoleum fifty years ago for the old families. Anyway, when he came to us, he was very anti-establishment. The Archtemplar's were dealt a poor hand many generation ago by the generals, but he became truly dedicated to us many months prior to your arrival, after his wife passed away."

Lux's jaw dropped.

"His what?"

"Don't..." Tanis stopped. "...go telling everyone. Most of the Sprig didn't even know. Ayer was married, for many years, to another member of the Archtemplar family and, as far as I understood, they were quite in love. But with his wife gone, something changed. He had always wanted the High Command to fall. But after that, he told me that what he wanted more than anything else was to make the Du Couteau's pay, and so he's been obsessing over them ever since."

"I had no idea," Lux found her heart was pounding.

"Yes, it is kind of tragic. I've never had reason to doubt Ayer, in spite of his tendency to ignore orders and, apparently, intentionally withhold information. But now I'm rethinking my decision to give him such a loose leash.

"Which, by the way," Tanis's tone changed. "Is what he need to talk about. You have tread into territory that is extremely volatile. You have infiltrated an embassy, without orders, to attempt negotiations with a hostage ambassador, and all while working for one of the High Command generals! That kind of action is not only reckless, but severely punishable. You could very well cause an international incident, let alone condemn yourself to death if the High Command got wind."

Lux bristled at this accusation.

"Fine," she crossed her hands defiantly, unconcerned about the threat of death. "Let's start an international incident. It would do them some good, from the way they talked to me. They're too frightened to do anything for their people."

Tanis looked flabbergasted.

"Wh-... What kind of attitude is that? That is not something for someone of your stature to decide!"

"Listen to me, Tanis," Lux grew unexpectedly bolder. "Did you see those documents about Zaunite chemicals? Yousef knew about them, which means that Noxus is doing something in Southern Ionia, something terrible, behind closed doors."

"And he told you that?"

"He might as well have. If Noxus is using chemical weapons there..."

Tanis scratched him beard nervously. This conversation was not going in the direction he intended.

"It wouldn't be the first time Noxus has used such tactics. But they can't be planning to attack Northern Ionia. Their state is now part of the League of Legends. So, you suspect Noxus is using these weapons... for what?"

"I don't know! Something evil! If you'd seen the look on his face, you'd think the same as me. Something has to be done about it!"

"Well, whatever that is, it is not for you to decide, Lux. I will write the Security Brigade and await their instructions. And in the meantime, I am putting you on suspension."

"What?"

Lux stood up angrily.

"Ayer has clearly rubbed off on you too much. Your actions have been irresponsible and, honestly, disrespectful to me. You are not to leave my company unless instructed otherwise. You will continue your studies at Blacktorch Library in accordance with the general's wishes until I end your suspension."

Lux stood with her mouth open, not knowing what to say in response.

"But-"

Tanis put his hand up, straight forward.

"Enough. You are going to far. I understand and appreciate your passion. Ayer shares your passion, but he always tended to take things too far, apart from my authority. Well now he is in prison and beyond our help. I don't want the same thing to happen to you. You have been fortunate thus far, but I will not allow this reckless activity to continue under my command!"

Lux lowered her head. This felt the same way it had the night he was going to send her back to Demacia. Clearly he had learned nothing. Look at what she had accomplished, left to her own devices! Ayer had been right. She needed to make her own path. And because she had, she had done amazing things, and she was continuing to do so. The secrets of Noxus were falling down in front of her, but Tanis wanted to stop her, just as she was starting to get momentum!

She had known the risks. She knew that what she was doing was dangerous, but that was what needed to be done. She had fought Katarina. She had lived in the Du Couteau Manor. She had infiltrated the High Command. She had entered the catacombs. She had infiltrated the embassy. This was the life of a spy!

She sighed.

"I am waiting for a reply," Tanis stood impatiently.

"Yes, sir," Lux replied, raising her head and feigning mild enthusiasm.

Tanis sat back down. He put on his spectacles and looked up at her. Lux remained standing. 

"Regarding the yordle child... He should be fine. I'll expect a written report of what happened so that I can explain things to his family. You said he was Bartok's child?"

"Nephew. He's been following me around. I didn't ask him to help me..."

"We don't need to discuss it now. You are excused."

Tanis lowered his head and resumed his study of the mountain of paper and books in front of him.

Lux walked out of the room, fighting back tears of frustration. When would she be treated with the respect she wanted?

Ayer and Katarina treated her with respect, she reminded herself.

Noxians. How ironic.

\------------------

The next two weeks were stressful for Lux. Reginald reports to Tanis continued, but she never got to hear them. Her suspension apparently meant that she was excluded from these meetings. Not that she was obligated to the information, but she would have liked to see Reginald and know generally what was happening. She grew angry with Tanis for punishing her in this way.

Bethany was great company for her, though. She was such a joy to spend time with. They got along well, and they both valued the other's friendship. Bethany loved asking about the Du Couteau's, who were kind of like celebrities for Noxians. After all, Katarina was a League champion. She would sometimes walk with Lux to Blacktorch Library. Lux's studies often lasted hours, continuing into the night, and yet Bethany could be found happily waiting for her in the lobby, reading her own studies.

Even so, there were moments when Lux was sitting alone in the magical archive, surrounded by cold stone, that she felt sad. She would lose herself in the tomes, dark wisps of magic swirling overhead, seeping through her fingers, and she was incredibly lonely. Bethany was sweet, and fun, but Lux felt that she lived in a different world from her, cared about different things. Lux didn't have anyone to talk to about her own problems.

She would think about Ayer some nights, probably alone like her, enduring who knew what, for her. He was the only person that she could be honest with, and they had barely spoken. Tanis had told her things that made her realize how little she knew about Ayer. She wanted to know what his wife had been like. What did the Du Couteau's do to him to drive him to this point? And what kind of love would drive him to strive with such a passion, the passion she admired? She wondered...

Today she felt especially lonesome, struggling to even read. Bethany had stayed home. 

She flipped through the pages of her partially-filled spellbook listlessly. Something nudged against her. It was Ulyaoth, probably wanting to play again. She looked at the empty space where the invisible creature might be.

"No, I don't want to play. Sorry, boy."

She leaned back in her chair and took in the space. Being here reminded her of Reg and how well they had worked together. She missed him. They had made a good team... 

He was the one that had helped her through basic training. The other soldiers had been ruthless, picking on her for her age or hitting on her because she was a girl. The other female recruits had acted pretty cold towards her. But Reginald had always been there, willing to spar with her, clean the barracks with her...

She shook her head and returned to her studies, making a small effort to make a dent in the spellbook for Katarina.

That night, after Tanis and Bethany were asleep, she snuck into the library and slipped into the chair in the corner, beside the beaded mirror. Tapping on the glass caused the magical screen to light up, filling the corner with a soft glow, and she saw Reg's face. He was standing watch for the night, somewhere. The snow fell gently, and his breath blew like heavy fog. It must have been ice cold, because he was wearing two layers of fur. Restlessly, he glanced towards the mirror.

He gave his bird a curious look. This wasn't one of their scheduled times for a report. After a few seconds, a word escaped from the corner of his frigid mouth.

"Lux?"

His mouth spread into a grin in realization.

Lux held her breath. Tanis had told her that he wasn't able to see back through the mirror. Staring at Reginald's eyes, she could see that they really weren't focused on her specifically, so it must be true. He glanced behind himself before speaking and leaned forward. His right arm involuntarily rested on his sword hilt.

"If it's you... Just tap twice on the mirror."

Curiously, Lux complied. The screen blinked as she did so.

His smile immediately broadened. He put his left arm forward and the little bird landed on his forefinger.

"I can't talk... You know the Brigade's silent code, right?" He made sure to lower his voice. "Of course you do... I can see it. The bird blinks."

Lux's eyes brightened. She eagerly started tapping on the screen.

"A-R-E--Y-O-U--O-K?"

"I'm fine," he responded in sign language, setting the bird on a post. "What about you?"

Lux exhaled. Where would she start? She really shouldn't bother him with everything. She was just happy to see that he was safe, for now anyway."

"F-I-N-E. W-I-N-N-I-N-G--W-A-R?"

He shook his head in response. "Low morale. Katarina is not a good general."

That wasn't a good sign. Lux remembered how Katarina had been very anxious about the campaign. She had practically broken down talking to her while they waited in the general's office.

"I am talking with Katarina a lot. She likes you. Maybe we can help you when this war is over?"

"Y-O-U--A-N-D--K-A-T-A-R-I-N-A? B-E--C-A-R-E-F-U-L!"

"She asks about you a lot."

Lux thought briefly about the two of them spending time together. The idea of him trying to get closer to Katarina made her nervous. She was the most deadly person that Lux knew in Noxus. 

"D-O-N-T--L-E-T--H-E-R--B-E-A-U-T-Y--F-O-O-L--Y-O-U..."

"I'll be careful," he smiled mildly while signing. He shivered a bit and readjusted his fur coat.

Lux paused. Her hands froze briefly over the screen.

"A-M--I--B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L--L-I-K-E--H-E-R?"

She didn't know why she typed that.

Maybe it was the cold wind, but it looked like Reg's eyes quivered slightly. He stood, wind blowing around him, not responding at first.

"I... Lux... Don't compare to her."

He looked as if he was struggling with his signing.

"You are... Very good, and I want to see you soon."

Lux's fingered drummed nervously on the table as he signed. What was she thinking? Why did she type that? 

"O-K--I--S-H-O-U-L-D--G-O." she tapped hurriedly.

"No," he responded quickly. She could tell that the sign language was taking a toll on his chilled hands. "It is lonely out here."

"O-K."

She sat there, looking at Reg. His eyebrows were curling in that way they always had when they talked. He tucked his hands under his arms and sighed, a blast of steam escaping from his nose. His head turned backward, and he resumed his post. He stiffened as a small amount of soldiers slipped out of the tent, one of them bumping into his shoulder forcefully.

"Foreign scum..." the man spit.

Reg seemed to shrug this off. Lux picked the mirror up off the table and leaned back in the chair.

On her first night at the Academy barracks, Lux had been unable to sleep. She was thirteen, and had just spent the previous night screaming at her parents. She had told them that she hated them and that they must hate her for sending her away. She had been upset, and the beds there weren't comfortable. She hadn't been allowed any familiar things to keep with her, and kept thinking about her favorite stuffed animal, a lion that was given as a gift from her brother. She had gotten used to sleeping with it. The air had been cold and the bedsheets had an unpleasant smell.

Just be stronger, she had told herself. Be strong and just sleep. 

Her persistent frustration and inability to fall asleep had made her feel like a bad soldier. But these guilty thoughts had only angered her and made her more restless.

That was when Reg's head had emerged from the top bunk, curly brown hair suspended in the air.

He had said that he was a new recruit and that he couldn't sleep either. He stayed up and talked with her and told her how impressed he was that she had been recruited so young. They had talked and snickered, disturbing the other recruits, until finally she was able to forget, briefly, about her troubles and sleep.

After about a year, they had to go their separate ways when she began her training with the Demacian battle mages, but the two of them had managed to stay in touch throughout this time. 

He had known her better than any of the other members of the Security Brigade, because of all their time together. She remembered that there were times when the two of them, after having fun or training hard, would just sit idly in each other's company, not saying anything. She recalled the brief couple of weeks where this ritual had been halted, because he had taken up smoking. That hadn't lasted long, because she couldn't stand the way he smelled.

So it was comfortable sitting here, just watching him stare out into the Freljord evening. He looked Demacian, even when covered in Noxian regalia. She could tell because his eyes betrayed loyalty, an eagerness to serve and protect. It was the same way her brother Garen looked whenever she saw him in photographs or viewing portals, the face of a soldier who had made a decision to deny himself.

She hadn't seen that in him recently, when they were working together all those months ago. Those first few weeks in Noxus had been really frightening, and the two of them weren't the same people they had been in the Academy. But now that she thought about it, he had been looking out for her and had tried to protect her all that time. He was still that same boy from the Academy...

Reginald's eyes glanced towards the bird, the determined face slipped briefly into a nervous smile. He blinked and raised his right hand over his face, turning on his wrist as he gave the sign he finally remembered.

"Beautiful."

Lux inhaled as the bird had finally had enough of the cold and slipped back into Reg's warm fur coat. He was gone. The mirrors hum was replaced by silence, then the simple sounds of the Noxian evening.

She curled her legs up into her chest and sat still, chin resting on her knees, still holding the mirror. She looked at the reflection of herself in the glass.

It didn't feel quite as lonely right here.

Then, in the corner of the mirror, she saw something unusual. Someone. It was the window behind her on the second floor of the library, the one facing the street.

It looked like...

She turned quickly and, for a brief moment, thought that she was still looking at the mirror. The girl immediately disappeared from view.

Lux jumped to her feet, grabbing her utility belt with her wand attached.

Running out into the dark street, she saw the small figure, having jumped off the window sill, ducking towards the nearest alley.

Lux nearly yelled after the person, but quickly remembered that it was the middle of the night and only Noxian soldiers were out now, or should be. She silently pursued, glancing back at the front door.

Suspension temporarily suspended, she thought to herself.

She summoned a spell of swiftness, and an invisible force was immediately behind her like wind. She dashed towards the alley, footfalls lighter than breath.

This girl, whoever she was, was fast. She didn't looked back and always seemed just ready to turn the next corner as Lux turned the first. Even with magic, Lux was having a hard time keeping up!

As she started to get short of breath, Lux decided to change her strategy and used the wind magic to send herself up, three stories up, onto the rooftops. She was hit with a surprising chill. Even for late summer, it was surprisingly cold this high up, because of the wind and elevation. The moon was large and bright white over the city. The stars were nearly invisible.

It may have been her blood pumping, but her head felt strange, like she had experienced all of this before. Every day had felt slightly off ever since she was forced to breathe in that strange potion by the Ionians.

There! She looked below her. Her suspect had stopped, perhaps thinking that she'd made her getaway. With a grin, Lux leapt straight down on top of her, surprising the girl and pinning her to the ground with her body. She struggled.

"Quiet!" Lux whispered forcefully, grabbing the girl's shoulder and spinning her over.

It hadn't been her imagination...

Luxanna Crownguard was staring at herself, the same down to the very clothing. Her bright-blue eyes were confident. Her soft face was bristling with determination. Her golden hair was slipping out of the embroidered cloak...

"What..."

"Surprised to see me?" the imposter asked in her own voice.

"Who are you?" the real Lux demanded. She looked down at the girl's clothes. "Where did you get this cloak? There was only one of these ever made!"

"Don't believe everything you hear," the girl smiled. It sounded like her. Everything about her seemed genuine.

"This is a trick..." she muttered. "Is this magic?"

"What are you talking about? I'm the real Lux!" she smiled.

Keeping the girl down with one hand, Lux dug into her satchel and pulled out the vision ward, holding it in front of her captor. The image before her instantly changed, hazed only slightly by the true vision. The beautiful cloak turned into a dull brown shawl and the young face turned harder, older. The eyes were different, hazel and almond-shaped.

It was her, the girl in Ayer's illustration.

"Sinistra..." Lux breathed.

"It's a pretty common Noxian name, isn't it?" the woman grinned, voice now deeper and more mature.

Lux sat up, freeing the woman temporarily, choosing to instead draw her wand and point it at her captive from a distance, still holding the vision ward in her left hand.

"You're using shadow magic..." Lux observed. "The same kind used by them... The..."

Lux spied a black-thorned onyx ring on the woman's finger. She glanced, noticing Lux's line of sight.

"The Black Rose... Yes."

She closed her eyes and stood up casually, brushing the dirt off of her simple clothes. Instead of a cloak, she was wearing a jerkin with a threaded shawl, covering her arms down to her elbows and tall leather boots that came up to her knees. Her hair was long, brown and full, curling at the tips. She was taller than Lux by a few inches.

"Why are you here?" Lux demanded. "Why are you running around dressed like me?"

Sinistra didn't respond. She only grinned broader.

"Why don't you put away that injured eyeball? It looks like it's seen better days."

"Not a chance!" Lux growled, raising the ward slightly. "You're going to tell me everything, or I'll call the night guard."

The woman was unfazed by the threat.

"Yes, call the brute squad. I'm sure they'd love another opportunity to put the infamous Sinistra behind bars again."

Infamous?

"Turn out your pockets! Do it now!"

"Calm down, little girl. Here..."

She tossed a few items on the ground, including a satchel and a small notebook. Lux recognized it and immediately picked it up.

"This... This is Ayer's notebook! Where did you get it?"

"Um... Let's just say it was a gift from the warden. It's been very helpful, but you can keep it."

Lux's confusion was growing, yet something was becoming clear.

"Wait a minute..." Lux said out loud. "Why did Ayer have a drawing of you?"

"Drawing?" the woman's poker face finally broke. "What drawing?"

Lux replaced the notebook with the illustration in her satchel, revealing a near flawless representation of the woman before her. The other illustrations had been coarse, as though drawn from a distance. This one had been drawn with care, in person.

The imposter stood silently, looking at it as Lux held it in front of her. She recognized it, Lux could see that.

"You're..." Lux muttered breathlessly. "You're his wife, aren't you?"

The woman's eyes widened intensely, and her mouth slipped open, revealing a set of pearl white teeth. Her hands curled up in front of her.

"Clever little poppet..."

"You're... supposed to be dead! Ayer thinks you're dead!"

The woman's eyes narrowed. "The Black Rose, we, all of us, we are dead, but united are alive. And Ayer, my traitorous husband, paid his price for leaving us."

Her eyes looked down briefly, then, as if knowing something without saying, smiled wickedly.

Lux's eyes shook. "But he... He isn't a member of The Black Rose, and... wait, The Black Rose is supposed to be gone!"

"Never gone!" the woman sneered, her shoulders pulling back. "The Black Rose is eternal, and its new season is finally upon us! Now out of my way!"

From the grips of the woman's fingers, Lux spied one of her vials. She must have grabbed it from Lux's utility belt! The real Sinistra threw it to the ground, causing it to explode into purplish smoke.

"Wait!" Lux yelled futilely, closing her eyes and trying to make sense of the noise. But all she could hear was the sound of guards approaching, responding to the noise perhaps. Swearing, she leapt upwards, back onto the rooftops. A wisp of smoke trailed behind her.

"Another day," she heard her own voice jeer from somewhere. It echoed into nothingness.

Lux did her best to find the imposter, running over the rooftops for a few minutes, but to no avail. The soldiers were riled up, so it wasn't wise to stay out. She had to get back to Tanis's, hoping that her absence had gone unnoticed.

What was The Black Rose doing sending someone to impersonate her? And had something happened to Ayer?

She descended from the rooftops straight onto Tanis's doorstep. Giving a quick glance behind her she slipped back inside.

She tiptoed her way back to her bedroom, which was attached to the sitting room. It was a simple bedroom, plaid blanket with white sheets. The walls were decorated with very neutral paintings and furniture, fitting a guest bedroom. She caught an image of herself in the bedroom mirror.

Just as she was about to slip off her clothes, the front door banged.

Tanis's light came on quickly, and he slipped into the sitting room, wearing a dressing gown.

"What on earth..." he muttered. He glanced at Lux as he passed by the open door, seeing her fully dressed.

He knew.

Without delay, he made his way to the front door. Opening it, he encountered a small patrol of soldiers.

"We are here to speak to Sinistra," the leader announced.

"What do you want?" Tanis responded quickly. "Has something happened?"

"There's been an incident. And we have reason to believe that your house guest is responsible."

"That's absurd," Tanis argued, not looking back at Lux, who was watching unseen from a distance. "She has been here with us all evening. She is asleep and in her nightgown."

"She's been here all evening? We have an eye-witness."

"All evening," he insisted. "She's only just now gone to bed. They must have mistaken her for someone else. She is not permitted to leave this residence currently, on orders from General Du Couteau."

"May we speak to her?"

"With a warrant, by all means, feel free to enter. I would imagine you'd need permission from the general himself, so perhaps you should be speaking to him first."

The guard leader was silent, not angry, but perhaps perturbed.

"Good evening, Tanis. We don't want trouble, but I would strongly recommend you visit the guard house tomorrow."

"Fine, fine," Tanis waved, looking at his feet. "I'm sure it isn't fun, running around this late at night on some wild goose chase. Keep up the good work, Antonio."

The guard nodded and made to leave. Tanis closed the door after watching them descend the steps. He walked back to Lux's bedroom, where he found her sitting on the bed.

"Well..." he started. "I'm not surprised. I'm disappointed."

"Tanis, I can explain," Lux began.

"I'm sure you can. I'm sure you can," he interrupted, putting his hands up and looking at the floor. "In the middle of the night, without my knowledge, what is it you chose to do tonight?"

"Nothing!" she insisted. "I mean, I don't know what those guards were talking about. Please, Tanis, listen to me."

He was clearly angry, but Lux had to admit that his patience was far beyond that of someone like her father or any of the commanders she had worked with previously. His face betrayed very little emotion, and she did, in fact, have his full attention. He sat down with his chin resting on his chest, eyes peering through the tops of his glasses. He twiddled his thumbs subconsciously as she talked.

"I was staying up, studying, so I hadn't changed yet. Really. But I saw there was this girl, outside of the library."

"Girl?" Tanis asked. "What girl?"

"It was... It was me! Someone was impersonating me! I think she's the one who had those soldiers looking for me. I followed her. You have to understand, I had to! And when I caught her..."

"Yes?"

"I found that it was actually Ayer's wife."

Tanis's brow hardened, as if his mind was calculating in response.

"That's impossible."

"It was," she insisted. "It certainly was. Look at this."

He showed him the illustration.

"I held on to this. I'm sorry, I didn't think it was intelligence."

"Sinistra?" he read. "Her name was Sinistra... That is... Hmm..."

He crossed his free arm across his chest.

"This is fascinating."

"She acknowledged that she was Ayer's wife and said that she was with The Black Rose. She wore a ring just like the one that the prison warden had, the one that interrogated me after Ayer and Talon were captured. She said that The Black Rose was coming back and that it was a new season for them to rise up..."

Tanis seemed to process everything quickly. He stood up.

"So... It is finally happening... Lux, I can explain some of this. I will need to visit Antonio tomorrow and discover what this imposter has done. Afterward, we will leave immediately for the Sprig of Silver, and there we will be able to discuss together how we should respond."

He slowed down and yawned inadvertently, stepping out of the bedroom.

"Alright," Lux said weakly, thankful that she had not incurred additional discipline. How long had it been since she'd set foot in the Sprig's hideout?

"Goodnight," he said, returning to his room.

After Tanis had gone back to sleep, Lux undressed and got into the silk pajamas she'd brought over from the Du Couteau manor. As she was brushing her teeth, she had a lingering thought.

I should tell Reginald what is happening.

She had already been thinking about talking to him again. This was a good excuse. For some reason, thinking about it excited her. She considered in what few words she would tell him. Was it silly, calling on him again after a little over an hour? It would be fine, she assured herself. Someone should tell him now.

She returned to the library and breathed a nervous sigh before touching the glass again. The screen brightened, revealing a surprisingly dark room. She didn't see Reginald. The bird seemed to hop around on the floor, having emerged from the fur coat he was wearing earlier. It was on the ground, inside what looked like an unusually large soldier's tent.

A distant, human noise, like a groan, was somewhere nearby. The bird responded by fluttering in that direction. It travelled first to an ornate desk, where it lingered, before jumping to a pole attached to the ceiling. Lux could see that it was a very large tent.

She picked up the mirror and held it close to her face.

The bird flew down, knocking through hanging folds of curtain into another room in this large tent. A dining room? There was partially eaten food. The bird continued to explore. The sounds she was hearing were getting louder. They didn't sound like normal conversation, but it was definitely Reginald's voice, and someone else, a woman.

The next few moments blurred together, like slow motion. The bird hopped onto the table, pecking at a piece of greenery, before glancing up at the doorway open into the next room. Through it, Lux could see, clearly, the naked body of a woman with unmistakable, bright-red hair, sitting upright on a bed, straddled over a man with brown, curly hair, also naked and lying on his back. Their shed armor was scattered across the floor.

No.

The bird flew closer. The bodies moved together.

No! Lux's mind screamed. The sounds she was hearing filled her ears, and her hands pushed the image away in horrified repulsion. 

The mirror, thrown with such force, shattered on the hard wooden floor.

Lux put her hands over her ears, but it didn't help. The vision of the glass scattering across the floor struck her, filled with new meaning now that she was experiencing it, once again, in the present. It seemed to echo infinitely, her mind unable to process the future repercussions of having broken it. Mind desperately eager to escape all this, Lux fell, unconscious, to the shard-littered floor.


	15. Heart of Noxus

She dreamt of a darkness that she could not at first recall. She awoke and it was gone, that same dream haunting her, retreating somewhere in her mind where she could not find it. Futilely, she stared at the stone ceiling, thinking that she could somehow will it back into consciousness.

Bethany Gale was holding her hand. Her relieved expression betrayed fear. Fear of what? Lux stirred.

There was wild magic crawling over her, blackish tendrils swirling. She hadn't summoned it. Lux dropped back onto the pillow and stared. The waves of restless energy hovered over both of their locked hands. Bethany stared at the magic warily, but she wouldn't let go. Lux could see the goose pimples on her friend's wrist.

She quickly willed the magic to retreat. It complied slowly, dispersing into nothing, leaving the bed with a frail hiss.

That was what her dreams had been each night, she realized, visions of the spells. Did this happen every time she slept, without her realizing it? These restricted spells, many of which had not seen the light of day since the Rune Wars, were some of the most powerful she had ever encountered, and they were locked away in her mind, unused. Their power was so great that she feared it.

She stared at the linen sheets, where the magic had been, waiting for it to somehow break free again.

"It's gone... What happened, Lux?" Bethany whispered, squeezing her hand. Her voice had grown unusually frail.

Lux didn't remember, not at first. She raised her free right hand, which was wrapped in a bloodied bandage, as well as her wrist. Cuts... from glass?

"The mirror..." she slowly processed. "I broke it."

She sat up.

"No!" the memory came back to her. "I broke it! How will we-?"

"It's alright, Lux," said a low male voice. Luther appeared at her side, holding a tray of soup and fresh bandages. His calm, bearded face was a welcome sight.

"Luther... Thank you. Are we..."

Lux looked around her at the unfamiliar environment, a concrete chamber with crimson banners hanging from the walls. Wooden trunks rested over them in stacks throughout the room.

"This isn't the Sprig," she realized.

"We're under the Palladium," he explained calmly, still holding the tray. "Sit up, please."

Lux complied, and he set the tray down on her lap. He proceeded to redress her bandages as he spoke.

"We left the old place about a month ago. It was getting crowded. This one room used to be where the old champions would wait before the fight, before the League of Legends was established. Nowadays it's just a forgotten storage room."

She stared at the ugly cuts on her hand and wrist, picturing the glass shards where they had been lodged.

"But what about Reginald? Is he OK?"

Luther coughed through his beard onto his sleeve. His enormous hands balled into brick-like fists.

"Who? Oh, you mean Razik. We don't know. His last report indicated that the war was a lost cause, so as long as Katarina doesn't get her armies killed by barbarians, they should be returning to Noxus soon along with Razik."

"Or onto some other campaign," Bethany added, before ducking her head sheepishly. "At least, that's what I heard."

Luther smiled and furrowed his brow.

"I don't think you were invited to that meeting, Bethany. Can you bring your father in here?"

Bethany nodded, letting go of Lux's hand and leaving through a thick walnut door.

"She's a born spy," he grinned toothily, one eye braced. "No helping her. Go ahead and eat."

"Tanis must be angry with me," Lux said after taking a sip of pork and noodle soup. It was warm and comforting.

"Lux, he's going to be happy that you're alive. He thought the Noxian magic had poisoned you, and I don't think he's thought much about that mirror. He's been preoccupied with more pressing matters."

He picked up a large vase from the top of a cabinet and poured her a glass of water.

"Speaking of which, maybe he'll let you attend the meeting, since you're awake."

"Why? What's happening?"

Luther took a swig from his own glass and sat down on the wooden stool where Bethany had been sitting.

"Big things, I think."

"CAW!"

Samantha the crow was perched on a golden rod atop one of the banners. She preened herself restlessly. Lux was actually happy to see the bird.

"She doesn't do well in here," Luther shook his head, raising his friendly eyes to his pet.

There was another bed across the room, Lux noticed. A small, reddish figure stirred, tossing under the sheets with a light moan.

"Is that..."

"The yordle kid," Luther nodded. "Tanis didn't want us to take him to his folks just yet, not until he was healed."

"Is he well?"

"He's lucky to be alive, a little guy like that taking that amount of spider venom. I have to say... He's surprisingly resilient."

"Yeah, Cecil's so stubborn, but I have to admit that he's brave, brave enough to stand up to an army of spiders."

Luther leaned over, lowering his voice.

"No, I mean physically resilient. He should have rightly died to that bite. There's something about him, the way he's healing, that's unnatural."

Lux didn't know what to say to this, but she was distracted by the white-haired figure who had just appeared in the doorway, who upon seeing Lux took immediate pause.

"Ayer!"

Lux almost upset her bowl. The figure nodded somberly from beside the door as Tanis appeared behind him, rushing to Lux's side and pulling the sheets aside.

"The magic that was here... it's gone?"

"It's fine. I controlled it," she assured him. "There's nothing wrong with me..."

"...so far as we can tell," Luther interjected. "She's not sleeping deep, but she's recovering, healthy enough to go I'd say."

"You were unconscious," Tanis added. He looked worried, almost apologetic. "We didn't know if something terrible had happened."

"I'm fine, but... Ayer! How did you escape?"

Tanis turned to his associate, who looked somewhat reluctant to approach. He glanced at Lux's utility belt that was hanging from a post on the wall before hesitantly stepping forward.

"Hello... Luxanna," he smiled slightly. "It's a long story. Now's probably not the best time. She looks healthy enough, doesn't she?"

"Yes," Tanis agreed.

"She should go with you to the meeting," Luther suggested with an urgent tone.

"Good, good. That's good," Tanis nodded. "It's important that you can come. Quickly, we're already late."

"Tanis, please explain what's going on," Lux insisted as Luther removed the tray and helped her quickly off the bed. Her legs were a bit weak.

Tanis finally smiled.

"The cavalry has arrived, so to speak."

Ayer led the way. His walk, Lux noticed, was stunted like he had been injured, possibly from his torture by the Noxians. His long, white hair flowed freely, billowing more than his cloak as he walked.

The four of them travelled down a long curved hall, lit by slats in the ceiling through which the red light of the evening poured. Tanis led the way, carrying a simple torch that lit the stretches of darkness between these lighted areas. The floor was dirt, tightly packed. At one point, they crossed a larger area where to their left Lux saw a large portcullis leading to the arena.

They took a right turn not long after this, down a short flight of stone stairs, meeting a set of double-doors. Passing through them, the four were immediately greeted by the room's inhabitants.

"The Sprig of Silver! It's about time the lads joined their own council."

Lux hesitated before stepping forward with everyone else. The room was large with a circular table big enough to seat fifty, lit by a large electrical lamp on the ceiling. The room was full of smoke and some of the inhabitants were drinking. Most of the seats were occupied, all of them by older, unfamiliar faces, except for that of the one who had just spoken, standing in front of the far-end chair.

The man was younger than most of them, probably in his forties, with shoulder-length, golden-blonde hair, dressed in dark, formal attire similar to the styles of Noxian dignitaries. But Lux instantly recognized him: one of the Demacian Security Brigades generals, Jepson Ryan. Against the wall behind him, two men, bodyguards, were surveying the room.

"The Lady of Light!" the general smiled broadly, raising a goblet of wine. "I'm happy to see you healthy. It's been some time since we last saw each other."

The group followed Tanis to a section of the table with four open seats.

"To those of you who do not know (and I would be surprised if that were the case). This girl is one of the reasons we're all here today, our secret weapon!"

He led the table in a round of respectful applause. Lux hesitated to sit, partially nervous to be surrounded by so many older Demacians, partially upset to be back in Jepson's presence.

"When I visited the Crownguards and I saw this girl for the first time, I sensed that she was something special. If you want to know the definition of Demacian superiority, you need look no further. And when we deployed her here, we knew that we would get results, but she has far, far exceeded Demacia's expectations."

Jepson Ryan was the one whom her parents had brought to see her, all those years ago. He was the one who insisted she enroll in the Academy. And he was also the one whom she appealed to come to Noxus.

He was a willful, successful general in the Demacian military, and Lux found little fault with him, but she nonetheless associated him with a number of painful memories. In particular, he tended to refer to her like a weapon rather than a person.

"Tanis tells me that you infiltrated Noxus's magical archive. Many of my associates here did not believe that this library even existed, and yet you, Luxanna, not only discovered it, you have plundered it."

He pointed to the spellbook on her hip, turning his head energetically around the room.

"That book is possibly the most valuable object currently in Demacia's possession. Tanis tells me that it contains nearly every spell used by Noxus during the Rune Wars."

A few of the mages on his left shuffled uncomfortably.

"Of course, that book is but a trinket compared to the value of Luxanna's incredible mind. We are happy to have you here, recovered from your injuries. Please, sit."

She did so, and the meeting began properly.

Jepson set down his goblet and put both of his hands on the table, his eyes affixed on its center as he talked.

"This is an important day for Demacia. Our Security Brigade has been working tirelessly over the last month to formulate a means to disarm Noxus's current ambitions. Thanks to Luxanna and the rest of the Sprig of Silver, we now have the opportunity and the intelligence to do so.

"As many of you know, Luxanna is currently serving General Marcus Du Couteau under the supervision of his daughter Katarina. Many of you here fought in battles against armies led by that man. At one point, he was considered the most powerful and dangerous man in all of Noxus."

He stood up straight and smirked confidently.

"But times have changed, and we know this is no longer the case. We have reason to believe that there is a major power struggle taking place amongst the Noxian elite, and it is the Security Brigade's firm belief that General Du Couteau has become the weakest link. His latest military campaign has been a dramatic failure, and he is already massively unpopular with the general population of Noxus."

As General Ryan spoke, Lux recalled what she had observed about Katarina, sleepless and irritable, complaining that her father was never home, fighting with her sister... All this time, Lux had thought of the Du Couteau's as powerful and unstoppable, but now her superiors were implying that they were actually vulnerable. It sounded like they were fighting for survival.

She glanced at Luther, who was tapping his forefingers on his mustache. He had originally described the mountain of Noxus to her as a representation of the powerful rising above the weak. She had never though about how difficult it might be for those who reach the top.

"Of course, there has always been a power struggle," Ryan hummed. "It's the way these Noxians like to do things."

The whole room let out a small chuckle, except for Ayer and Lux.

"Let's get this council meeting underway. First, we should hear from our spies from the Institute of War, The Falcon's Fury. You have information about General Du Couteau..."

A man dressed in purple robes wearing a large number of golden chains stood up. He pulled back his hood, revealing ear-length black hair and a band-tied goatee. He spoke formally, without emotion.

"Noxus, we know, is petitioning the Institute of War to elect a new champion to represent them in The League of Legends. We also know that Noxus's master tactician Jericho Swain is Grand General Darkwill's current choice. However, we have just learned that General Du Couteau has offered an alternative candidate..."

"Talon," Ayer interjected immediately, raising his hand to his chin. "He's picked Talon."

"Our Noxian traitor speaks," Jepson responded in turn, folding his hands on the table. "Mr. Archtemplar, our sources suggest that it is his daughter Cassiopeia whom he has chosen to advocate for."

"Yes," the summoner spy nodded. "Our sources implied that the candidate is female."

Ayer laughed, lowering his head into his cloak's large collar.

"His daughter Cassiopeia is a diplomat. She hasn't fought a battle in her life. This information couldn't possibly be accurate..."

The room did not seem to appreciate Ayer's opinion.

"Be it Talon or Cassiopeia or the general's butler, please allow my associate to continue..." Jepson glowered at him.

Of course, Ayer wasn't been treated with respect. When Lux had entered the room, she'd been lauded for all her accomplishments. In reality, most of what she had accomplished was thanks to him. And he was the one that had been right about General Du Couteau in the first place. His plans and intelligence had always been sound. If anything, they should be thanking him.

After a brief pause, the Falcon's Fury continued.

"The general will be presenting this candidate before The High Command this week. It would be a great victory for the General if he were to succeed. Katarina's champion status already grants him a large amount of immunity within the High Command. Having two champions representing his interests may be the linch pin that holds him to his seat."

"Conversely," the hooded figure sitting next to him added. "Failing this effort may be the final nail in his coffin."

A couple of the men at the table grinned at this process, including Ayer, Lux noticed.

"This is not a situation we have any control of," Jepson observed, tapping his fingers together. "But this information was worth mentioning. It confirms our suspicions that the general is desperate for leverage.

"If General Du Couteau is voted out of the High Command," he continued, motioning for the summoner to sit. "There will be a power vacuum until a replacement is chosen. This will give Demacia a window of opportunity to press its advantage, and I think we'll all be happy to see such an adept military tactician out of the chair. So we should do what we can to bring the general down."

"But what about his inevitable replacement?" Tanis spoke up, twisting his white goatee. "We should consider the prospect that we are defeating one foe only to allow a stronger one to take his place."

"Yes, Tanis, my friend," the general replied. "I suppose that is true..."

"General Marcus is evil! He must be destroyed!" Ayer interrupted suddenly, slamming his fist on the table. A marked silence followed. Ayer glanced around the room, clearly agitated.

"Trouble within the ranks?" Jepson smiled. "Our Noxian friend should learn to respect his commander and wait his turn."

"Ayer," Tanis muttered. "Please wait for us outside until this meeting is over."

Ayer frowned and stood up immediately, pushing his chair noisily backward. Lux watched him leave, concerned, wondering what the Du Couteau's had done to prompt such a loathing. As the rogue exited, Jepson continued.

"Let's hear from The Western Wind next. What is the news from Southern Ionia?"

A bearded man in green armor stood up, coughing into his gauntlet.

"We regret to inform the council that we have very little to report. Most of our spies have been unable to infiltrate the borders of the southern states. Those that have have not returned."

"Unfortunate news," Jepson nodded.

"However, there is a marked amount of unrest in the northern states. Rumors of injustice and tyranny in the south have soured their diplomatic relations with the Noxians. The monks, the Kinkou Order, the elders, all of them have lost patience with Chancellor Hawkmoon, especially after Noxian soldiers marched on the Freljord. They are uneasy."

"Yes, this is common knowledge," Ryan waved his hand. "No need for further elaboration now. Our time to plan is short. If you would like to speak, Commander Richter, I believe our friends in The Western Wind will want to hear about the information Tanis supplied you with."

Ryan turned to the person sitting to his right, gesturing with his hand.

"Thank you, general," the spectacled man smiled. He brushed the curly brown bangs from his face and produced the envelope that Lux had obtained from the Archtemplar crypt.

"We have reason to believe that General Du Couteau has partnered with Zaun to develop military-grade chemical weapons, a clear violation of their agreement with the Institute of War. Miss Crownguard was able to obtain these classified documents here, documents that our science team has interpreted as schematics for weapons with the ability to cause massive, prolonged pain, cellular deconstruction, even reconstruction. Under no circumstance would any nation be permitted to arm themselves with something matching the descriptions within these documents."

Tanis responded to this information with a look of surprise. He started shuffling his hand around inside his coat and produced a small envelope as Commander Richter continued his report.

"What we do not have is proof of Noxus's involvement. While Zaun is well within their rights to conduct their own internal experiments, they are restricted from selling them for profit. If Noxus is involved in any way there will be severe repercussions from the Institute of War for both nations."

Tanis stood up in response. Lux noticed his hands were slightly shaking as he spoke.

"We believe Ambassador Bram of Ionia is in possession of such proof."

General Ryan lighted up at this.

"Really? This is new information..."

Tanis glanced at Lux.

"I... don't have physical evidence to supply, sir, not yet. But we have a first-hand account that he is aware of the program's existence and may be directly involved."

Jepson folded his hands, clearly calculating.

"Then our next step is clear. One of your spies should get in contact with this individual and secure this vital intelligence. I assume, then, that General Du Couteau is involved."

Tanis glanced at Lux,

"We didn't suspect him before, but... this new information about Zaun has... made things more clear."

"Oh?"

"I have... a letter for Luxanna from the general's daughter Katarina."

Lux recognized the shape of the letter. It was her latest orders, the ones that Tanis had yet to deliver to her. He opened the envelope, removed the letter and began to read.

"Under her chosen persona, Sinistra, Luxanna is being charged by the general to assassinate the Ionian ambassador Yousef Bram."

The entire council stirred and began muttering as the document was passed to General Ryan. Lux watched silently as the paper exchanged hands, her mission to kill.

She should have seen it coming. At some point she was going to be asked to kill for the general, just like the rest of the family. They were a family of murderers, and this was their initiation for her.

"Katarina's orders to Lux come straight from the general. She is expected to accomplish her task before Katarina's return from the north, and we know Katarina will be back in Noxus any day..."

"If that's the case," General Ryan replied gravely after looking over the letter himself. "I am granting immediate authorization to organize the rescue of this ambassador. Once we have Ambassador Bram in custody, we can secure the intelligence we need from him. Tanis, I am putting the Sprig of Silver in charge of this mission. Your prerogative is keeping Yousef alive, but I would advise discretion. Our preference would be for the Sprig of Silver to remain active and for Luxanna to continue serving under Katarina until after Marcus Du Couteau is out of power."

"With your permission," Tanis replied. "I would like to carry out this request as soon as possible."

"Tonight then," Jepson nodded, smiling. "You have our complete faith. I speak for all of us when I say that this effort would not be possible without you and your team. And Luxanna-"

Lux was standing up with Luther as they moved to leave. She saluted immediately.

"Stay safe."

Lux stiffened. Jepson glanced at the spellbook on her hip before waving her off.

Tanis shut the door behind her and walked quickly back down the hall where they'd come from. They had emerged so quickly that Ayer had to catch up with them for having not noticed their exit.

"Ayer," Tanis spoke quickly and directly as he walked. "You and Luxanna must get back into Noxus tonight. Take the underground city passages. It's important that neither of you are seen by any authorities, especially together."

"Why can't she go with you, back to Noxus Proper?" Ayer replied, walking briskly in turn in spite of his injury. The slats in the ceiling were no longer producing light.

Tanis sighed forcefully as he walked.

"In spite of what you heard back there, this is likely the Sprig of Silver's last mission. Bethany and I will not return to Noxus Proper. I'll need you to 'clean' the house for me."

"Wait," Lux interrupted. "But Katarina's going to be back in Noxus any day. You and I have to report to her. It would be suspicious if you left me alone... She would ask where you've gone and-"

"Lux," Tanis stopped briefly, looking at her intently. "This is your last mission too. You aren't going to see Katarina again."

This information didn't register with her right away.

"We're rescuing Ambassador Bram, your mark to kill, and once we do so we must flee the city. I've thought about it, and I can't see a good alternative. Rescuing him compromises your mission too much for you to risk staying with the Du Couteau's, and I'm certainly not going to tell you to follow through on Katarina's orders to murder that man. Once the ambassador is safe, we are all pulling out, for good."

He continued walking again.

"So Ayer is going with you."

They stepped into the storage room, causing Samantha to caw. Tanis grabbed Lux's utility belt and cloak and handed them to Lux.

"Your wand is in that trunk over there..."

He pointed next to the other bed, which he realized was empty.

"Luther... Did you take that yordle boy back to his family?"

Luther grunted in surprise as he rushed wide-eyed over to the empty bed where Cecil had been, dropping to his knees to look under it.

"The scamp is gone!" he shouted, turning to Tanis.

Tanis turned to Ayer for assistance.

"I'm not chasing a rat," he grimaced.

"That boy will compromise this location if we don't find him. Do you want to know what would happen if Noxian soldiers came here?"

Ayer smiled.

"Fun?"

"I'll find him," Luther volunteered. "I'll start at Bartok's."

Tanis rubbed his temples.

"Alright, I'm going back to talk to Jepson. Ayer, you keep Lux safe."

Ayer glanced at Lux, then back at Tanis.

"She can take of herself. As far as I'm concerned, she's coming for my protection."

\--------------

Lux followed Ayer down the main street leading from the Palladium to the Merchant District. It was the same street she had travelled her first night in Noxus when she'd attended the League match with Reginald. Tonight, it wasn't even comparably busy. Those present were clumped around tables, watching the viewing portals and muttering to each other between drinks.

"The people aren't happy about General Marcus's campaign up north," Ayer explained. "According to the reports on the Institute of War's news reports, one barbarian tribe was all it took to stop thousands of trained soldiers. That makes the High Command look weak."

"Well, they got what they deserved, invading someone's homeland like that," Lux replied, holding no remorse. She tried not to think about the northern campaign, because it made her think of Katarina, and Katarina made her think of Reginald.

Ayer held a finger to his mouth as they passed one of the outdoor tables filled with Noxian men.

"We'll take the eastern entrance to the mountain. That's the common road. You've never been under the mountain, have you?"

Lux shook her head and shrugged.

"It's been nothing but mansions and banquets since I got here."

She smiled wickedly. This prompted Ayer to laugh. She'd never heard him laugh before. It was a simple and pleasant sound.

"People live under the mountain?" she asked.

"Most of Noxus's lifeblood is inside that mountain, the fires that keep the place running so-to-speak. That's where I live... That's where most of the native-borns live."

They travelled silently past the busy taverns near the docks. Upon reached a street with many soldiers, they chose to take a detour through the Diggery, Noxus's only yordle community. Through here they weren't likely to be recognized, and there were no soldiers. The small inhabitants looked curiously at their silent visitors from their run-down dwellings. This was easily the poorest looking place Lux had seen so far in Noxus. Some of the children looked visibly hungry, peaking out of homes made of cheap wood and oddly-shaped logs.

"Sinistra!" a familiar voice called out.

They both paused and Ayer put his hand on his blade. Muffy, Bartok's wife, hopped up to Lux and wrapped her arms around her, purple curls bouncing.

"It is you! My goodness, you look different than the last time I saw you!"

"Oh, Muffy! I didn't expect to see you here..."

"Same. Gods, that's a nice cloak you've got there, and the rest of your outfit too!"

Lux laughed as Ayer stood awkwardly beside their cheery conversation. More yordles were coming out of the woodwork, observing them. He began to spin around.

"What brings you to the Diggery?" Muffy continued. "I'm just here visiting Maxwell, my little brother."

"We're just passing through, actually," Ayer muttered from beside Lux. He looked surprisingly uncomfortable.

"And who is this handsome man? Is he your father?"

Lux blushed.

"He's just a friend. We really should keep moving. Oh!"

Lux remembered about Cecil.

"Have you seen your nephew around? We've been looking for him."

"Dear," Muffy smiled broadly. "You'll have to be more specific. I can't even count them all from memory."

"Right, I forgot," Lux smiled back. "There's so many... His name is Cecil... red hair, carries a sword..."

Muffy's face went white beneath her purple hair.

"Cecil? Why, Sinistra... you... you must be mistaken."

"What did she say, Muffy?"

A male yordle emerged from the hovel behind her, a large silver mustache extending from his nose almost around his head. He looked unwashed, like he'd just been underground.

"I'm not mistaken," Lux pressed. "We just saw Cecil an hour ago. Is something wrong?"

"Cecil?" Maxwell's face mirrored Muffy's shocked expression. His voice grew immediately desperate. "What about my son?"

"Sinny, dear," Muffy continued with difficulty, holding Maxwell's hand. "We haven't seen Cecil in five years. He was arrested for attacking an officer, and they... they took him away... They sent him to Zaun with the others. We haven't seen him since then."

"He's here? You saw my son!" Maxwell's face grew desperate, and he grasped at Lux's hands. "Is he alright? You're sure it was him?"

Lux was confused and somewhat frightened by their reaction. The yordle was pulling forcefully on her arms.

"He's alive? But he won't come home!" Maxwell wailed.

"No, I'm sure that not... Maybe I'm mistaken," Lux reasoned. But she knew Cecil had said he was Bartok's nephew. He had said so very clearly, and they recognized her description of him.

"It's all my fault," the yordle let go of her and turned to fall into Muffy's arms.

"Sinistra," Ayer interrupted, clearly unhappy with where the conversation was going. "We need to keep moving."

He grabbed her wrist forcefully.

"Wait," Lux said.

"Wait!" Muffy repeated. "Please, is it true? Is it true he's alive?"

"It's true..." Lux whispered, almost not believing her own memories now. "We'll find him for you. You'll see."

"Sinistra!" Ayer yelled.

He pulled her to continue. The entire yordle community was outside, watching them walk away. Ayer was hurting her hand.

"Cecil..." the father's moan quieted as they slipped away.

"Discretion and secrecy... We need to move unseen! Every yordle in Noxus saw us talking about that kid!"

They moved with speed. Lux wasn't sure how she was able to keep up with him. Her wand bounced painfully against her back.

She couldn't stop thinking about every instance she had interacted with Cecil. He was cheerful and energetic and... normal. But if he didn't live with his family, where had he been living all these months? She remembered his paralyzing reaction to the Zaunite weapons document. Muffy said that they'd taken him away to Zaun... What had they done to him there?

They arrived at the common bridge, also known as the Blood Bridge. Here native-born Noxians were allowed to cross over the moat into the mountain. The only prerequisite for entrance here was to show the tattoo of the skull marked on their arm, something that residents of the mountain must do to register their citizenship. This was not a requirement for high-born Noxians and "guests of the High Command", who used the other bridges.

Ayer showed the bridge guard his tattoo, and Lux did likewise. The guard raised his torch to her arm and looked at her briefly before moving on to the people behind them. He didn't give her a second look with so many others to check.

The bridge was large enough to support a cart going in both directions. There were a fair number of people crossing in spite of the late hour. This didn't surprise her. She knew that Noxus was at its most active in the darkest hours of the night.

Lux noticed that many of the people crossing were looking at her as they passed. It was probably because of the expensive cloak she was wearing. The color and quality made her feel out of place. Ayer nodded his head in approval as she stopped on the other side of the bridge to take it off, tucking the folded garment into her belt.

"Smart move. This isn't the type of place you want to stand out, especially not now."

As they began walking towards the rock tunnel entrance ahead of them, Lux decided to speak her mind on something that had been nagging at her ever since the Diggery.

"Does it make you uncomfortable... calling me 'Sinistra', Ayer?"

Surprisingly, this didn't seem to prompt a reaction from him, but maybe that was because she was clearly looking for one. Ayer didn't even make eye contact as he responded.

"It's a name. It's a common name. I know many Sinistras... Why should it bother me?"

"Because it's your wife's name."

Ayer suddenly stopped, causing the people walking behind them to swear and knock him in the shoulder as they passed. His head didn't move as he gazed at the ground in front of him.

He made an immediate right turn, walking her to the edge of the moat, hundreds of feet below them. Only a small, decorative wooden fence separated them from the drop. Ayer cleared his throat and rotated his neck slightly.

"My wife is dead."

"No, she's not," Lux looked up into his eyes unsteadily. He was noticeably taller than her. "I saw her. She spoke to me."

Ayer grabbed her by the shoulder.

"My wife is dead, Lux. Let it go."

"She was using shadow magic," Lux ignored his request. "She was pretending to be me! She is alive and..."

Ayer's eyes, for the first time, looked angry with her.

"Do not mention this again! The woman I knew is gone! And-"

His face froze, and he looked like he was staring at something far off in the distance.

"LeBlanc..." he whispered.

Lux's mind switched from the image of Sinistra's illustration, to the other one, the mysterious woman in the peacock headdress.

"LeBlanc?" Lux recalled vaguely. "Who is she?"

Ayer didn't reply, but let her go and moved quickly towards the mountain entrance, his step once again quick.

"Wait!" she called after him as they passed into the shadow of the entrance.

The cave walls surrounded them, but instead of rock, they were all made of worn stone. The interior of the mountain opened up into a vast cavern with a ceiling more than a hundred feet high. The entire cavern was littered with dwellings, like a hive with thousands of torches burning from within its combs. Because of all the torchlight, the expanse above the appearance of a black emptiness. Between the residencies she could see hundreds of tunnels that pushed deeper into Noxus.

She continued to pursue Ayer, who seemed to be distracted, barely noticing her pursuit.

She wanted to call after him, but she knew it was dangerous to say his name out loud. She did her best to push aggressively through the crowds of Noxians, shopping, talking, possibly picking her pocket...

He made direct turns one way or the other. She couldn't tell where they were heading, but they were ascending, climbing closer to one of the walls near the end of the cave. They moved away from the business of the shops and passed a number of quiet cave residences. She noticed that many of these were marked with flags, like a simple imitation of the residences in Noxus Proper.

As she turned a corner after Ayer, she was suddenly grabbed and pushed against the wall. Ayer was standing over her, covering her with his cloak. They stood silently there, his breath heavy from walking so quickly and possibly from emotion. Lux trembled, looking up at his distant, dark eyes and white hair. After a few moments, shadows passed them.

"Cutthroats," he whispered, almost nonchalantly. "Wait just a moment longer."

"I'm sorry," Lux whispered back. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Let me ask you a question, Lux," he muttered, finally making eye contact.

"...OK."

"Are you actually planning on going back with them... to Demacia?"

"Of... of course!" Lux stammered, trying to keep her voice low. "Why wouldn't I? Demacia is my home."

Ayer stared at her silently.

"Are you sure?"

What was he asking her that for?

"My life... for Demacia," Lux repeated, as she had many times.

Ayer looked like he was... observing something.

"Huh..." he said simply, standing up straight, removing his hands from beside her head.

"What? What is it?" she asked.

"You frighten me. I want you to know that. Those Demacian officers weren't joking around. You are literally brimming with magical power."

Lux didn't reply, but gave him a look that suggested he explain.

"Your eyes just now, they were bleeding with magic. It only just stopped now."

"I frighten you?" Lux asked. "I'm just a girl."

Ayer smiled finally.

"Well, I never expected to hear you say that."

"I mean, you're one of Noxus's deadliest assassins..."

"Not quite the deadliest. I'd say you live with two of them. Speaking of which, if I suspect at all that Talon is near us, I will leave you. I say this now because I don't want it to surprise you."

"Talon?"

Ayer nodded. "Don't take it personally. I don't want him to see you with me. If he discovers that we are working together, your allegiance to Katarina won't matter to him. He will kill you."

Lux hesitantly nodded, and they continued their upward ascent. They walked for an hour, passing through dark tunnels with further residences and shops increasing in shady appearance and poverty, most of them carved into the stone itself. It was masoned stone. Now that she thought about it, she was having trouble finding any sign of natural rock in this place.

"This... is a mountain, right?"

"A mountain, sure. A man-made one. You didn't know?"

"Man-made?" Lux was taken aback.

They came to another cavern. This one looked deserted. They turned a corner, and she gasped.

It was a city street... a full city street with buildings running along it, underground. The place was deserted and absent of all light except for Ayer's torch. It looked straight out of Noxus Proper, only it was underground, although the architecture was markedly different.

"But... It can't be. The mountain is huge. It's covered with dirt and rock."

"A lot of decomposed granite," Ayer set his hand on a worn, wet statue of a dog. "The dirt comes naturally from the wind, and from when we bury the past. See this? This is the crypt where I store all of the intelligence I find, way up on the 21st level."

Lux looked up at the tower extending only a few floors into the ceiling, which was made up of a number of the buildings collapsed on top of each other. The Archtemplar crypt was far above them, somewhere in that stone barrier.

"This is unreal."

"This is the Undying Road. Ironic. Noxus is one of the oldest nations in the world, and every generation someone new ascends to the top of the food chain as crowns and thrones change hands. Armies conquer, loyalists usurp, the rich get bored... and it all gets buried. My family's crypt has rested here for over 2000 years."

He pointed down the destroyed cobblestone road.

"There's an old theatre down that way if you want to see it."

"Let's just move on," Lux coughed, feeling a bit claustrophobic under all this history. "There were spiders and who the hell knows what else in that crypt. I don't want to know what is down here."

Ayer lingered a moment longer.

"I remember reading that in the reign of the Two Monarchs the warlocks burned the entire city to the ground. There's a whole section of the mountain that's ashen from it. I think I would like to see this Noxus burned to the ground, the High Command and its generals..."

Lux put her cloak back on as they drew nearer to the surface. She thought of Cecil again and how before he had been traveling underground, using the sewers, the catacombs, and these older Noxian cities to get around.

"We're going to emerge about a half a mile from the Ionian embassy. I'll stand watch while you talk to the ambassador. You know, he might not want to come with you."

"If he doesn't, I'll make him," Lux nodded, ready for action.

Ayer didn't say anything, but he smiled again. She liked it better when he smiled.

It was now twilight, and the late-summer weather provided clear skies in the political district of Noxus Proper. As usual in this section of the mountain, there was a decent wind running through the streets. She anticipated that it would be even stronger on Yousef's balcony overlooking the cliffs.

Ayer waved her on as they reached the correct city block, waiting just inside the shadows beside the street. There were still armed guards at the front of the residence. Lux once again ascended onto the tiled rooftops with wind magic, cloak fluttering around her like a petal. She approached the embassy warily, looking out over the edge of the mountain. It was nothing but darkness, like a black abyss hovering over the firelight of the city below, and above it the sky shone with many stars, so dim with all the light coming from the city.

Yousef was standing on his balcony again, looking out into the night. This time he wore a large yellow robe that fluttered aggressively in the night wind, his knee-length beard held firmly under his right arm. Lux touched down behind him.

As if a repeat of her last visit, Yousef spoke without turning around.

"Hello again, little spy."

"Ambassador Bram," Lux said immediately. "I'm here to rescue you."

"Not to kill me?" he replied, turning around. His face looked ill, like he might be malnourished. His eyes were still closed and yet betrayed a firm sorrow.

"I have orders to take you back to Demacia, where you'll be safe. You can tell us all about Noxus's treachery against your people, away from here."

The wind whistled swiftly between the balcony pillars as Yousef stood silently in response.

"You saw my fate in the vision," she continued slowly, careful not to show disrespect. "You know you can trust me."

"Noxus... Demacia... What's the difference?" he finally asked.

Lux held her tongue as she waited for him to speak his peace.

"When people say that they will keep you safe... what do you think they mean? Hmm? I am already a possession of Noxus, and I am apparently safe, so they tell me. I am safely under their control... I find no comfort in the promise of safety anymore, especially from a nation I see as no better than this one. My presence here is for my country's benefit. Taking me away would endanger the lives of my people."

Lux was no diplomat. Her sensibilities were telling her to hold back, but she couldn't.

"This is not a negotiation. If you don't come with me, you will die. The Du Couteau's want you dead. I was given the order to assassinate you. I won't do it, but someone else will finish the job once I'm gone. You are no good to your people here if you are dead."

Yousef moved onto his back foot, raising his hands like a claw, freeing his beard to flow in the wind.

"If you think I am helpless, girl, you are mistaken. I will not be motivated by threats on my life."

"Please," Lux pleaded, not raising her guard. "If you want to stay then at least tell me how we can help your people. We are sacrificing our entire operation for this information. We are willing to pull out of Noxus if it means stopping this weapons program..."

"Of course you are. What better weapon for Demacia's military than political leverage against its enemy? Your country does not care about Ionia. It wants power."

Lux could feel her temperature rising, her heart racing.

"You saw the Noxian tattoo on my shoulder? It's real, Yousef. No one asked me to come to Noxus. Demacia didn't force me to live here. I chose to be here. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to save lives, and that's what I'm trying to do now. I don't know what else to say to you to convince you to trust me, so here..."

She grabbed her spellbook and unclasped it from her belt.

"Demacia's prized possession. It contains every spell I've stolen from Blacktorch Library. It's the reason that Demacia sent me here, and its value is priceless. I'm giving it to you."

Yousef's face didn't change. He merely stood still, only the wind causing movement.

"Take it. It means nothing to me in comparison to the life of even one Ionian."

Lux dropped the spellbook onto the ceramic tile with a thud. A long, pregnant pause occurred as they stood across from each other under the night sky, two strangers in a foreign land.

Finally, Lux sighed and closed her eyes in defeat.

"There are cargo ships under trade agreements with the local merchants," Yousef said quietly.

Lux raised her head.

"The High Command ordered General Du Couteau to negotiate new trade agreements between the local merchants in Noxus and Shon-Xan... and Zaun. I signed the agreements myself. Those ships are making port in Zaun before they reach Ionia, and when they do reach Ionia's shores, they are not carrying food or clothes, but Zaunite poison."

He returned to a standard position, tucking his hands over his beard and into his robe.

"It was under the protection of this trade agreement that the general was able to slip his forces past Zaun to the north. Zaun sells its weapons and receives military protection from the barbarians. Noxus can begin work on the militarization of Shon-Xan and its neighbors and potentially cuts off trade from the west to Northern Ionia. All of Ionia, meanwhile, suffers."

He opened his eyes, revealing tears.

"There are armed camps in Shon-Xan, where they imprison those who oppose them. Chancellor Hawkmoon and his men showed me how they torture them with these chemicals. They showed me the results on human flesh. They threatened to take my grandchildren there if I did not do as I was told. I am full of infinite regret. If the gods are just, they will let me die here. I will give you all the documents that you require, little spy."

He walked slowly past her, speaking softly. His surprising change of heart silenced her, and the image of innocent people being tortured in prison camps disturbed her.

"I am very sorry. In a vision many months ago, I saw you kill me, Luxanna Crownguard. I am sorry that I did not trust you. The vision must have been a false one, for you are truly the woman your country says you are. I am humbled by your brave words and actions. I still do not trust Demacia, but I think I can trust you. I will pray for your success..."

"You can still come with me, you and your wife..." Lux pleaded. "You don't have to stay here. You can help us."

"Wait here," he replied, raising his withered hand. "We will discuss this further, but let me get you the documents you require. I must do this before..."

A guttural, desperate sound emerged from his lips, shocking Lux before she had time to react. A hooded figure jumped out of the house and into Yousef.

She heard the sound of the knife entering his stomach.

"What... is this... trickery?" she heard Yousef sputter.

She saw her own eyes, the eyes of Luxanna Crownguard, emerge from over his lurching body, and her soft, white hand grasped his shoulder, clutching a blood-stained kunai.


	16. Sinistra

It was like looking into a mirror, except all wrong.  
  
The person staring back at her had a smile that she had never seen in her own reflection.  The eyebrows were hard and ruthless, the eyes uncaring.  Somehow, even the hair seemed wrong.  
  
Lux rushed forward to attack, pulling her wand from her back.  As she swung it, the assassin leapt backwards into the darkness of the building.  The wand released a protective red barrier that softened Yousef's fall.  The body didn't stir.  
  
Kneeling down, she rolled him onto his back.  His face looked helpless and in shock.  His golden eyes were open.  
  
"Luxanna..."  
  
"Don't speak," she said quickly.  "You're going to be OK."  
  
She didn't dare touch the kunai sticking out of him.  There was more than one wound.  His beard was marred with bloodstains.  
  
"The darkness..." he murmured.  "It's worse than I feared!"  
  
"Please, Yousef..."  
  
His eyes locked onto her.  
  
"Shadows are rising from the resting places of the dead...  They take on our own forms..."  
  
He was delirious.  She put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Look at me!" he insisted, his throat gurgling.  "You must leave this place!  The shadows will bury you if you don't.  They will take your place...  Take...  Your..."  
  
He died right there in her arms.  
  
She stared into his lifeless eyes.  She could feel it, the anger welling up inside her.  She had already seen men die here, but this had been a good man.  This was a man she had sworn to protect.  This was unjust.  Unjust.  
  
She stood up in defiance.  Someone would pay!  
  
She stepped quickly inside the house.  It was like she remembered it, only dark and empty of life.  She searched around for Yousef's wife and the fake Lux.  Not seeing either of them, she listened for a sound.  
  
Nothing at first, then she heard the quiet rustling of papers farther into the house, and she realized her situation.  
  
The documents.  
  
She abandoned caution and ran into the hallway, following the sound.  The walls were made of paper, Ionian-style, with sliding doors.  She tugged at the first door on her right, where the sound was coming from, but it didn't open, so she tore it, ripping her way through the paper.  She emerged to the sight of her imposter behind a large desk in the corner, bent over, stuffing her satchel.  
  
"Stop!" Lux yelled.  
  
The other froze, not rising at first.  
  
"It's over, Sinistra.  I'm not letting you get away."  
  
"Sinistra?" the other Lux smiled, revealing herself.  "But I'm Luxanna, and you're Sinistra."  
  
"No, I'm Luxanna," Lux shook her head confusedly.  
  
The mirror image put her hands together innocently.  
  
"Really?  But you just killed the Ionian ambassador and all those guards outside...  I certainly couldn't do anything so ruthless."  
  
Her voice sounded playful, almost mocking.  She raised her hands in front of her.  
  
"I'm not the one with blood on my hands."  
  
Her hands were clean and white.  Lux's were not.  
  
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lux growled.  She pointed her wand directly at the imposter.  "Who are you working for?"  
  
"My life... for Demacia," the girl acted.  "I'm going to show the whole world just how terrible all you Noxians really are.  Don't try and stop me."  
  
"Liar!" Lux yelled.  "You want those documents hidden away... destroyed."  
  
"No," the girl explained.  "I'm going to present them to King Jarvan III himself.  Then I'm going to go home to my family, who will love me and take care of me."  
  
Lux was overcome with frustration.  The voice sounded just like her.  
  
"Hand them over, or I will hurt you."  
  
The other Lux stood defiantly.  Her voice was filled with confidence and self-righteous pep.  
  
"Just like a Noxian to threaten me.  There are better ways to fight.  Besides, you can't hurt me because I have the light of Luminosity to protect me!"  
  
She drew her own identical wand and twirled it effortlessly in her fingers.  A bright light filled the entire room.  
  
"The real Lux can use Luminosity, see?  How about you?"  
  
Lux stiffened, raising her wand higher and closer to herself.  She hadn't used Luminosity in months except for on a few occasions, and the last time she'd tried a spell it had been so weak...  
  
The girl reacted to her hesitation with bravado, stepping out from behind the desk to leave.  Lux shifted her wand to her left hand and raised her right, attempting to stop her with a burst of light.  To her horror, nothing happened.  She stared at her bare hand.  Not even a soft glow.  A small wave of panic came over her as the other Lux laughed.  
  
"Can't do it?  I told you you were Sinistra!"  
  
She swung her own wand and produced a blinding flash.  Lux raised her arms over her face before being pushed to the ground.  The imposter jumped over her, blonde hair fluttering.  
  
Lux pointed her wand after the girl.  Bursts of fire shot out of the gem, igniting the walls of the hallway.  
  
"Stop!" she yelled again.  
  
She rose with agility, on her feet in no time, just like how Katarina had trained her.  She pursued and was right behind Sinistra.  Chasing herself with the crackling of fire at her heels, it felt like a dream.  
  
She lost sight of her target for only a moment as they turned a corner back into the living room.  There she saw Sinistra on the ground, having apparently tripped and fallen to the floor.  Her wand rolled onto the ground and under the other side of the table.  
  
"My wand!" she cried out, spinning onto her back.  "Wait!"  
  
Lux didn't hesitate.  She could feel her wand pulsing with energy.  A ball of dark matter shot out of the unlit end of her wand, hitting the dropped weapon.  The pure-black ball hit its target, and the other wand twisted and contorted as its matter collapsed in on itself, disappearing and leaving nothing behind but a black stain on the sisal rug.  
  
The other Lux put up her hands in defeat.  
  
"I give up!"  
  
Lux kept the wand pointed at her, the one gem churning with the dark magic, the other on fire.  
  
"You murdered an innocent man and his wife.  You killed the Noxian guards.  How many other people will you hurt?"  
  
The seemingly helpless girl broke into a mean smile.  
  
"You're right!  All of those people died because of you.  You must feel terrible."  
  
Lux didn't know how to react.  There was a part of her that believed the words... that she was somehow to blame for their deaths, and hearing her own voice tell her so... infuriated her.  
  
The false Lux continued to taunt her, still lying on the floor.  
  
"This is the story of a girl from Noxus who hurt a lot of people, just so she could get what she wanted."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Sinistra was poor and had no parents...  so she struck a deal with powerful people to sneak into the house of Du Couteau and pretend to help them, but secretly she wanted to ruin them."  
  
Lux clenched her teeth.  
  
"They had everything she wanted and they gave it to her, but she didn't like the kind of people they were, so she told herself that hurting them was right."  
  
The ball of dark matter was growing.  
  
"And Katarina had trusted her so much...  She thought she had found a friend.  But in reality, Sinistra was a villain."  
  
"That's enough!" Lux finally screamed.  The wand's power crackled with electric-like energy of non-color as the dark matter had grown to the size of a melon.  
  
"Luxanna!" a familiar voice yelled from the exterior.  
  
Ayer stood in the doorway, sword drawn and raised from the shoulder at the fake Lux.  He yelled towards Lux over the loud hum of the magic.  Small objects around the room were kicking up.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked.  
  
Lux's eyes widened as she tried to keep her eyes on her enemy.  
  
"This is the one who killed the ambassador!  She has the Ionian documents!"  
  
"Wait..." Ayer said in confusion, seeing the fake Lux's face.  
  
"Ayer!" the girl yelled.  "It's LeBlanc, the Deceiver!  She's using her shadow magic!  She's going to kill me!"  
  
"LeBlanc..." Ayer mouthed the name and pointed his rapier at Lux, stepping forward.  "Lower your weapon!"  
  
"No!" Lux yelled in frustration, unwilling to move.  "I'm the real Lux!"  
  
"She's using forbidden magic," cried the imposter.  "Help me!"  
  
"Put down the wand..." Ayer encouraged, holding up his other hand in front of him along with the sword.  
  
"No!" Lux growled helplessly.  "She's lying!  She's your wife!"  
  
Ayer's guard dropped, and he lowered his sword, turning to the girl on the floor.  
  
"You know that's not true," the girl said, turning to Ayer.  "You told me yourself that she is dead."  
  
She looked back at Lux.  
  
"LeBlanc killed her."  
  
The dark matter was growing further.  Lux wasn't paying attention.  
  
Ayer seemed lost, looking between the two of them: the confused, enraged Lux and the girl who was looking at Lux with a giant, evil grin.  Then Ayer, as if something else entirely entered his mind... he ran.  
  
"Ayer!" Lux called after him as his cloak disappeared in the doorway.  She made to move, but a tug of her arms made her realized that she couldn't.  The wand was somehow locked in place, swirling with out-of-control magic.  She saw the ball of dark matter growing and her eyes bulged.  "Ayer, I can't stop it!"  
  
Suddenly, screaming.  Lux looked down at the floor.  Where originally there had been a Lux, there was the frail, old body of Yousef's wife Nancy, holding her arms above herself in terror, trembling at the sight of the dark magic aiming directly at her.  
  
The wand crackled, the hum had grown to a howl, and everything in the room was turning over or being flung into the air.  Lux pulled at the wand, which now seemed suspended, rigid, in the air.  
  
"Stop!"  
  
The spell needed to stop!  She had to cancel it!  She was going to kill an innocent person!  
  
With all her might, she gripped the wand and poured her heart and soul into it.  She didn't know who to pray to, but she prayed anyway, thinking of the light and pushing away the spell from her mind just like she was pushing the wand's gemstone away from Nancy.  
  
Then, as if something had given, it moved.  Lux fell forward, and the dark matter shrunk instantly.  Hitting the floor, she rolled her body onto the fiery end of her wand to extinguish it.  Smoke was pouring in from the hallway.  Nancy pushed away from her into the nearby couch, whimpering.  
  
"I'm sorry," Lux said, face on the floor, gasping for air.  
  
Looking at her wand, Lux saw one of the focal gems swirl with black briefly before shivering.  A snap triggered a large crack to form from end to end.  
  
She heard careful footsteps approached from the front of the house, and an armored figure appeared from the smoke, leather-banded blades swinging behind him.  It was Talon.  
  
"Sinistra," he said urgently.  "It's time to go."  
  
He looked around the entire place, marveling.  He spotted the dead body of Yousef through the open back door and nodded.  He looked at Nancy, then at the smoking hallway, then back at Lux.  
  
"Let it burn.  The job's done, girl.  C'mon."  
  
He picked her up by the hand and steadied her by the shoulder, making sure she had firm footing before moving over to Nancy, who was quivering in a fearful ball on the floor.  He kneeled next to her and put his hand on her forehead.  
  
"Here's some advice," he muttered to the old woman in a cool tone, raising his bladed arm.  "Never marry a politician."  
  
He cut her throat.  Lux did everything she could not to scream.  
  
"Let's move!  Back to the manor!" he yelled.  
  
No, Lux thought over and over again as he wrapped his gauntlet arm around her and pushed her through the smoke towards the door.  No, no, no!  
  
They emerged into the twilight.  The air was misty.  Lux saw the bloody bodies of the soldiers on the streets.  As they passed over them, she recognized the body of a young man with red hair...  
  
"I saw you," Talon said simply as they quickly moved away and into an alley.  He cleaned his blade as he ran.  "Quick.  Precise.  Impressive.  I didn't think you had it in you."  
  
Lux knew that he must have seen her doppelgänger kill those men.  She smartly kept quiet about it.  
  
"I was meant to ensure that your job was done," he explained.  "Glad you didn't take too long.  That apartment stunk."  
  
Was he making light conversation with her?  He'd never done that before.  Their pace slowed after they had gotten a good distance away, only half a mile away from the Du Couteau manor.  
  
"I know that was your first time killing, Sinistra.  I don't know how the hell you lived under the mountain or outside it or wherever you came from without having to kill a man..."  
  
He looked up at the stars.  
  
"Doesn't matter.  It's done.  General Marcus will be pleased with you, and Katarina, of course."  
  
Lux's mind raced.  There had to be some way to get away.  There was no one left in Noxus Proper that could help her, except for Ayer.  She could only hope that he'd come back for her, but she wasn't sure he would.  
  
"You are kind of similar to her, you know?"  
  
Lux looked up at him.  
  
"...Katarina."  
  
She looked back down at the ground.  Talon didn't say anything else.  
  
He didn't take her to the front gate of the manor.  Instead, he led her to a black wall in an alcove at the end of an unmarked alley.  He withdrew a small stone from his pocket with a leather cord, and Lux recognized that it was the mark, the Snake of Du Couteau.  He held it over the wall and a faint clicking sound preceded the creak of stone against stone.  A door cracked open that Talon was able to pull back.  
  
He ushered her forward with a tilt of his head, and Lux reluctantly complied.  Stepping forward, she found herself in the manor garden.  She recognized it was where the two of them had talked together many months ago about Katarina.  
  
"Go on then," Talon nodded, his voice low and rough.  "I've further work to do.  You should stay indoors until this blows over and regain your strength.  Katarina will be home soon and will want to see you well-rested."  
  
The stone slab closed, leaving no trace of an exit.  Now she was locked in.  
  
Her hands were still matted with Yousef's dried blood, and her mind was filled with the faces of the people who lost their lives, and over those images further still was the memory of her own face, the foreign one that mocked and frightened her.    
  
Over the peaks of the junipers a muddy pillar of smoke marred the night sky.  
  
Her voice cracked, and she fell to her knees.  She couldn't let herself cry, so her voice moaned and wailed uncontrollably, as quietly as she could.  The decomposed granite between her fingers was not enough to remove the blood.  Her legs felt weighted to the ground.  
  
Trapped.  Alone.  
  
\--------------------  
  
For two days, Lux did not leave her bedroom.    
  
She had not missed being there, in spite of its luxury.  In fact, the comforts of the manor disgusted her now.  Every pleasant thing, every extravagance reminded her of the blood money that must have paid for it, a family forged and raised up on the backs of the unfortunate and the innocent.  Even the red carpet in the hallways reminded her of blood.  
  
And she had helped them do their dirty work.  What had she been thinking?  What had she expected, working for the most dangerous family in Noxus?  Her only reward had been watching people die.    
  
Death wasn't like in the League games, she realized.  Watching her brother "die", as horrifying as it had been, wasn't the same as the real thing.  There was something missing.  Garen must have known, as Katarina's blade had plunged through his chest, that he was going to come back.  That knowledge was visible in his eyes.  But real people didn't look like that.  Yousef had clung to her as if she could somehow stop what was happening, or hoped her to.  His eyes had been desperate and scared.  He hadn't known where he was going.  
  
Lux shivered on the bed.  
  
Yousef had said he'd seen a vision of his death by her hands, and it happened, just like the visions of Lux's own future had all come true so far.  She couldn't remember any of the others, not in full.  When Tanis's mirror had shattered, the vision came back to her only just as it was about to happen.  Would all the other visions come true in the same way?  
  
How could she have been so arrogant to think that she was capable of any of this?  Even her own spells had overpowered her.  All of her accomplishments seemed worthless.  
  
She got up and tried again to cast Luminosity.  Nothing happened, with or without the wand.  It wasn't a fluke.  She had lost her gift...  Something had taken it from her.  
  
She lit the fireplace.  Even though it was summer, she couldn't get warm, so she paced for a few minutes before returning to the bed.  She didn't get under the covers though, not even to sleep.  
  
Time passed slowly.  No one came to see her.  No servant checked in on her.  The house was silent like a grave, save for the ticking of the grandfather clock, which she struggled at every ringing hour not to destroy.  A simple knock would greet her and meals would arrive at the door on a cart as if delivered by spirits, and she would reluctantly eat.  
  
What bothered her most was the laughter.  Sometimes, out of nowhere, she would start laughing.  It disturbed her because she didn't want to, yet it would burst out of her, usually when she thought about the people who had died.  She would smile or laugh against her will.  And she wasn't happy, or amused, or anything like that.  
  
It was fear.  She was so afraid... that she laughed.  
  
Then, she heard them, voices talking across the house.  Lux threw on her clothes and equipment, including her cloak and wand (which she had kept far away from her across the room), ready to escape at a moment's notice.  
  
Stepping quietly across the red carpet, Lux emerged onto the dining hall banister and the double-doors below burst open.  There she was....  
  
"Sinistra!" Katarina called up to her, raising her arm and grinning.  
  
Lux made her way slowly towards the staircase as her mentor ascended.  She was wearing crimson and black armor, as if she'd just emerged from the battlefield, adorned with horned-skull ornaments on her belt and knees.  As usual, she was armed.  
  
"Gods, it's good to see you," she said, unexpectedly embracing Lux.  "Talon told me you took your mark and left no witnesses!"  
  
"I killed soldiers."  
  
"That's fine!  They weren't my father's soldiers."  
  
She looked so proud, holding Lux by the shoulders.  It made her feel sick.  
  
"So..." she continued, following Lux's silence.  "The spellbook.  You've filled it."  
  
"Yes," Lux said quickly as Talon emerged from underneath the banister.  
  
Katarina noticed and snapped her fingers for Lux to follow her back downstairs.  She was practically jumping down them.  
  
"So?" she asked him eagerly.  "What's the word?  Do we have a date?"  
  
Talon nodded, showing no expression.  He handed Katarina a piece of parchment, which she took and looked at, not hiding her excitement.  
  
"Ha!  This calls for a drink!"  
  
She held the paper aloft and walked over to the table, grabbing one of the bottles of wine adorning its center.  She took out one of her kunai, using it to break the seal and pop the cork.  
  
"You've done well," she said, handing Lux a filled brass goblet.  "This piece of paper is proof of our success after all our hard work."  
  
"What... does it say?" Lux asked hesitantly.  
  
"I don't want to spoil the surprise," she smiled playfully.  "Let's celebrate first, then I'll tell you."  
  
She took a drink from her own goblet.  She looked relieved, different than how Lux had gotten used to seeing her.  She didn't look tired or angry or stressed.  Something significant had changed her.  
  
"Let's sit," she said.  "Talon has started without us."  
  
As Lux approached, Katarina coughed and gave her a nod to remind her to put the wand aside with the other weapons.  Setting it down, Lux gave it a quick look over, studying the cracked gem on its end, before returning to the table.  
  
"Are all of the soldiers back?" Lux asked, sitting across from Katarina and Talon.  
  
Katarina raised her eyebrow with a knowing smile, then looked at her cup.  
  
"No, and you shouldn't concern yourself with the movements of our armies, Sinistra... or any of Noxus's soldiers.  Drink."  
  
"But Razik is back, right?" Lux pressed.  
  
Katarina set her goblet down, frowning.  
  
"Just forget about him, Sinistra."  
  
This statement set Lux off.  
  
"I heard we lost," she replied, putting her hands on the table.  
  
Katarina's good mood appeared to vanish instantly.  After a long pause, she cleared her throat.  
  
"The people of Noxus like to talk about war..."  
  
Lux interrupted, crossing her arms.  
  
"I heard that one tribe of barbarians was able to hold back our entire force."  
  
Talon didn't say anything, looking between the two of them as a simple bystander.  
  
Katarina's eyes narrowed, then she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.  Lux could clearly see the entire scar, dividing her left eyebrow, running over her eyelid and down her cheek.  
  
"I've been away too long.  You're starting to remind me of how I found you...  Overconfident, truant, pressing your luck..."  
  
"I've killed men and women for you," Lux replied, still having not sipped her wine.  She picked up the goblet in her fist and raised it in the air in front of her.  "I am not the same person you found on the streets.  I'm a Du Couteau now."  
  
Katarina responded by taking another drink.  
  
"You think so, huh?"  
  
"It's an old name, right?" Lux tipped the goblet, stirring the liquid.  "'Knife-born', right?"  
  
Katarina didn't reply at first.  Her face was unreadable.  
  
"Spilling blood doesn't make you special," she finally said, setting down her goblet and leaning on the table.  "Whether or not we even pick up a blade, we spill blood.  Every 'honest' man is taking something from someone.  Taking a life doesn't separate you from the others."  
  
She shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Killing is just another way of saying 'me, not him'.  It's shed blood.  You want to know what sets us apart?  Loyalty."  
  
She pushed back her chair and started to pace.  Her voice echoed across the hall.  Lux set down her own drink.  
  
"Sacrifice.  You're not spilling someone else's blood.  You're spilling your own blood.  You are dedicating your life to a name, a name that protects you, raises you up, covers you."  
  
She slapped her hand on the top of her chair.    
  
"A family.  Something more than yourself.  A lot of Noxians don't understand that..."  
  
Lux jumped.  Her goblet had suddenly slid across the table in front of her, as if moving on its own.  Talon laughed in response.  He was holding his hand in the air like some sort of street magician.  
  
"Knock it off, Talon," Katarina sighed, abandoning her lecture and taking up her wine again.  "No weapons at the table!"  
  
"What weapon?" he grinned, jerking his wrist.  The goblet flew across the table and into his hand.  Lux spotted a brief shimmer that betrayed a number of fine wires attached to her cup.  "It's only a weapon when I attach blades to 'em.  You weren't going to drink this, were you, Sinistra?"  
  
He gulped the wine down happily.  Lux turned back to Katarina.  She didn't want to end this conversation.  
  
"So you're saying I haven't spilled my own blood?"   
  
"Not enough," Katarina replied.  "You'll have your opportunity soon enough."  
  
"So what was it like when they examined you at the Institute of War?" Talon changed the topic, putting his feet on the table.  
  
"When I became a champion?" Katarina sat back down in her chair, turning it slightly away from Lux.  "We've talked about this before..."  
  
"Seems relevant," he shrugged.  "Sinistra's never heard it.  I've forgotten anyways."  
  
"Fine," Katarina hummed, also putting her feet up.  She glanced at Lux before starting.  
  
"So everyone knows about the summoners.  They can enter your mind and see your thoughts, but they can do more than that.  They can make your memories visible, to you and everyone present, like a picture."  
  
The visions...  They must have been some kind of summoning magic!  Yousef had used it to look into her fate.  
  
"Can summoners... tell your future?" she asked.  
  
"How the hell should I know?" Katarina responded.  "I don't care about magic.  Just shut up for a second.  You should listen to this."  
  
She poured a new glass for Lux and herself, looking more relaxed.  Lux picked up the goblet.  
  
"They call it Judgment.  They take you into a room, and there's summoners everywhere, looking down on you from their auditorium seats, and before you know it, you're somewhere else, experiencing your past, your triumphs, your mistakes...  It all feels real, but it's just an illusion."  
  
Lux sat still, imagining Katarina at the Institute of War.  
  
"They think they own you," Katarina scoffed.  "They ask you how it feels when they do it, like they are studying you, understanding you.  It's all academic arrogance.  Like they'll ever know what it's like to have their feet on the dirt, fighting and killing!"  
  
"What made you decide to join the League?" Lux couldn't help but ask.  All her fears and concerns seemed to be forgotten while Katarina spoke.  She sipped the wine absentmindedly.  It relaxed her, and it was actually delicious.  
  
"Heh," Katarina smirked.  "They ask you that too..."  
  
She took another drink.  
  
"If you'd been paying attention, Sinistra, you'd know the answer to that question."  
  
The door behind her creaked open, and Cassiopeia entered the room.  She was dressed in a stunning white evening gown, holding a small matching purse.  Her brown hair was curled into multiple locks that bounced as she approached them.  
  
"Welcome back, sister.  And congratulations."  
  
"Back from your pleasure cruise?" Katarina smiled, pouring a cup for her.  
  
"Always business, never pleasure," she corrected.  She set a black rose on the table in front of her sister and took the wine.  
  
"What's this?" Katarina asked, staring down at the flower.  
  
"Don't know.  An admirer?  It was on our doorstep," her sister said between light sips.  "Mmm, this is hinterland wine!"  
  
"Is it?" Katarina examined the flower mildly.  But Talon's reaction was far more severe.  
  
"Give that to me!" he said hurriedly.  He took it up and began fingering at it.  
  
"What?  You like flowers now?" Katarina smiled, clearly back in her good mood.  "I didn't take you for a gardener, Talon."  
  
He didn't retort, examining the plant as if it was a piece of paper.  Its color was unnatural.  
  
"What is it?" Cassiopeia approached him.  "It's not from a gentlemen caller?"  
  
"Of course not.  You don't know what this is?" his voice dropped to a whisper, holding the stem in front of his face.  "This is the death mark of The Black Rose."  
  
"The what?" Cass asked.  Katarina was silent, looking at it spin in Talon's hand as he elaborated.  
  
"One thorn for the head of household.  Three thorns for the first-born.  Five thorns for the second."  
  
"And how many are there?"  
  
"Three," Katarina observed.  "The Black Rose...  So it's true."  
  
Cass took the rose out of Talon's hands, examining its color.  
  
"Strange.  This is from the old order?  But they're all dead."  
  
"The Black Rose died.  The families lived," Talon explained.  "Why assume they'd never come back?  The mountain of Noxus is deep.  Its tunnels are endless.  No one could say for certain that they were all gone.  Ayer Archtemplar, remember, is one of their descendants."  
  
Lux sat up at the mention of Ayer's name.  
  
"And he's rotting in a dungeon, if I recall," Katarina smirked.  Lux shifted in her seat.  
  
"He's just one man," Talon continued.  "The Black Rose was thousands strong before The High Command."  
  
"Some wretch in the Grimoire said that they had a new matron," Katarina recalled.  "That's was months ago, the day we met Sinistra, wasn't it?"  
  
Lux nodded, looking over at the large portrait of a Du Couteau ancestor on the wall at the end of the dining hall.  
  
"This flower is their death mark," Talon continued.  "Whoever this new matron is, she wants you snuffed, Kat."  
  
"Cute.  But who is she?  And why do they all want me dead?" Katarina pondered, standing up and walking over to her weapons.  "Sinistra."  
  
"Yes?" Lux flinched, glancing at the weapons.  
  
"Get your spellbook.  We've got one more job to do before your interview with the High Command."  
  
"Before my what?!" Lux yelled suddenly.  
  
"Oh!" Katarina put her hand to her mouth and started to laugh.  "Oops."  
  
Talon pointed while holding his wine.  
  
"You spoiled the surprise."  
  
"You didn't tell her?" Cass asked, snapping her purse shut.  
  
"What surprise?" Lux asked again.  "What exactly are we celebrating?"  
  
Katarina raised her shoulder coy to her chin, enveloping most of her face in her hair, and held up the slip of paper in question.  She smiled broadly.  
  
"This.  It's from the High Command!  They've accepted your candidacy to be their new champion.  They want you to represent Noxus with me in the League of Legends!"  
  
"My candidacy..."  
  
Lux's wine goblet fell over, rolling on the table, spilling a puddle of wine.  The room seemed to wobble as Lux struggled to sit upright.  Katarina put her hands on her hips.  Talon grunted at the waste of wine.  
  
"Well, hurry up and get that spellbook," Katarina gestured.  "We need to take care of this 'matron' business, and then we'll go meet with my father.  He's desperate to see you."  
  
Lux scooted quietly out of the chair, bumping her leg before stepping forward to pick up her wand from the weapons table.  
  
"Hey," Katarina sidled next to her.  She put her hand and chin on Lux's shoulder.  "I'm proud of you."  
  
Lux didn't say anything.  She tried to manage a smile but a small laugh escaped instead.  She put her hand over her mouth and ran back upstairs.  They watched her go.  Talon stood up and drank the last of the wine straight from the bottle (to Cass's disgust) before joining Katarina at the weapons table.  
  
"Is that how you reacted, Kat?" she heard Talon ask as he attached the giant blade to his arm.  
  
Lux made her way back down the hall and pushed through the door into the bedroom.  Her chest was hurting, maybe from the wine.  Her mind was racing.  She struggled to focus on what she was going to do now.   
  
She was remembering.  She had seen it in the vision.  There had been a room with five thrones...  The High Command!  She had been standing before the five generals, and they were asking her to join the League of Legends!  
  
"Oh..." Lux struggled between breaths.  She thought she might be having a panic attack.  She didn't want to join the League.  She didn't even want to be here.  
  
The charade was over.  It was time to leave or risk this vision coming true.  It would be the end of her if it did.  
  
Yousef had told her to run, and now she knew why.  
  
Where was the spellbook?  She searched everywhere.  Didn't she keep it with her wand?  
  
Then she remembered.  It wasn't here.  She'd left it on the balcony at the Ionian embassy, and she'd never picked it back up...  She'd forgotten it there, next to a burning building!  
  
She felt terrible, spinning around the room in distress.  She'd failed to save the ambassador and his wife.  She'd lost the stolen spells.  And she'd done all those other things, nearly getting her friends killed, getting strangers killed.  And now Reginald was stuck in the Noxian army with no way to contact the Sprig of Silver.  How was he supposed to get back?  He didn't know the Sprig was withdrawing!  All he'd wanted was to get back to Demacia, and they were going to leave him behind...  
  
Part of her hoped that he was out there, back at the Palladium, that he'd gotten back to Noxus safely and could go back with her.  
  
It was hot in here.  
  
Lux opened the bedroom window, looking out over the city.  The summer evening air filled the bedroom, causing the fireplace to flicker.  There was an empty rooftop in the distance where she'd once seen Ayer stand, watching over her.  He was the only one here who'd ever understood her.  Where was he now?  
  
She opened her satchel and pulled out Ayer's notebook that Sinistra had given her.  She'd never given it back to him.  She hadn't even looked at it.  Curiously, all the pages appeared blank.  Inside the cover, a small shard of dirty mirror was taped in place.  Lux looked at it, seeing her own reflection.  She looked scared.  She was older and didn't look anything like she remembered herself in Demacia.  Demacia...  
  
She longed for her country, but home felt so far away.  She wanted her house, her own bed.  Maybe she didn't belong there anymore, after all the things she'd done...  
  
But she didn't belong here either, or she didn't want to.  It was time to leave.  
  
She put the notebook back in her satchel, next to the little vision ward and the letter Ayer had written her.  Putting her foot on the window sill, she looked down at the courtyard below where she'd spent hundreds of hours training with Katarina.  
  
They really did want her to be part of their family, the Du Couteau's.  They were friendly to her now.  They had dropped their guard and helped her.  But it didn't matter.  They were a terrible family that did terrible things, and she wouldn't help them anymore.  If she didn't leave now, the rest of those visions would come true.  
  
She raised her wand towards the bed where she'd slept all those nights, specifically aiming at the pillows.  Without saying anything, she cast a ball of fire, igniting the beautiful silk and cotton.  The grandfather clock tolled in response to mark the stroke of midnight.  Lux spun the wand around and out of its other end she cast a bolt of lightning.  The clock exploded with a clang, scattering cogs and wood across the rug.  Finally, she threw a vial on the window sill, immersing the inside and outside of the room in purple smoke.  
  
"Goodbye forever," she said quietly, jumping into the air and floating upward into the night, a trail of smoke following behind her.  
  
The streets of Noxus Proper were familiar to her now, and she navigated them easily, quickly and quietly.  She passed over the rooftops of the Ivory Ward, empty now save for a handful of guards.  When any of them so much as looked in her general direction, she would fire off a reckless spell somewhere in the distance to distract them.  She did this several times.  She didn't care if she was leaving chaos in her wake as she ran.  She wasn't coming back.  
  
She ran as quickly as she could, her lungs burning, not looking back.  The hope of returning to Demacia was before her and the fear of pursuit from Katarina and Talon was behind her.  She ran faster still.  
  
She spotted the prison where she and Ayer had been held captive.  Above her, the mouth of the mountain loomed, Katarina had walked along its edge with her.  Every landmark she recognized, she couldn't help but smile cathartically.  She was one step farther away from the grasp of the High Command, one step ahead of fate...  
  
And ahead of her, over the moat, she could see the merchant district, and just cresting the roofline she saw the walls of the Palladium, only a couple of miles away.  
  
She planted her foot firmly on the last stretch of cobblestone and spun her wand.  A massive gust of wind swirled behind her, propelling her into the air.  Luxanna flew across the width of the moat, not near any of the bridges.  Her violet cloak fluttered in the wind as she crested over the moat effortlessly, like it was only a small stream.  The magic was incredible, pushing her away, away from danger.    
  
She landed at the edge of the Grimoire and stopped, turning around, gasping for breath, hands on her knees.  The skull face of the mountain returned her gaze.  The wind rushing over the moat below roared, as though the mountain were calling her back.  
  
They must know by now, she thought.  She hoped that she'd somehow managed to burn the whole manor down.  It seemed to her it would be poetic justice, that their one hope of success would be the spark that ruined everything the general's legacy had built up.  
  
But part of her felt guilty for thinking that.  
  
She didn't care.  This was how it had to be.  It was her or them now.  Staying there meant choosing death.  Like Katarina had taught her, you make your choice, and they make theirs.  You don't take responsibility for...  
  
Lux shook her head.  Wait...  Why was she agreeing with Katarina?  
  
"I'm not going back," she told herself.  She was going home, to Demacia.  
  
The Noxians of the Grimoire did not hesitate to flee at the sight of Sinistra's escape.  One look at her wand, and they would scatter.  Ahead of her was the Merchant District, and it didn't take long before she found her way to Broken Bridge.  She passed Bartok's shop, where her and Reginald had first stayed.  
  
It gave her pause to look up at the dark windows, but the sight of a small yordle below stopped her.  He was sitting quietly on one of the barrels outside the shop, looking up.  
  
"Cecil?" Lux recognized him.  
  
The little yordle turned around, a stunned expression on his red, freckled face.  
  
"Oh... Sinistra!" he said quietly, his voice surprisingly melancholy.  "You're better..."  
  
"Yeah, but..." Lux looked around, eager to continue on, but she had to stop and talk to him.  "Cecil are you OK?  Your family is looking for you."  
  
He didn't say anything at first, looking back up at his uncle's house.  His furry ears twitched.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Well, go inside," she insisted.  "Your aunt is in there.  They're worried sick about you.  Haven't you even told them that you're here?"  
  
"No," he replied quietly.  
  
"Why, Cecil?" Lux asked exasperatedly.  
  
The yordle turned back to her, with sorrowful eyes.  His large ears were drooped almost below his eyeline.  He stared silently before his expression turned confused.  
  
"Wait...  You just came from the shops.  I thought you were at the Palladium..."  
  
"What do you mean?" Lux asked.  
  
"I followed you there just an hour ago," he explained quizzically.  "You were leaving for good, going back to where you came from.  You were saying goodbye..."  
  
Lux wanted to disbelieve him, but she knew what his testimony meant.  
  
"Sinistra..." she breathed.  
  
She jumped away, as fast as she could, down Broken Bridge, towards the Palladium...  
  
After a few seconds, she heard Cecil call after her.  
  
"Wait!  What's wrong?"  
  
She ignored him, fists pumping, mouth hanging open as she gasped for air.  
  
Magic, fly!  
  
She burst into the air, ignoring all caution.  She was hundreds of feet in the air, following Broken Bridge to the docks.  The expanse of the ocean went on forever into the night, brushing its black surface against the night sky in a terrible union.  Lux's gaze fluttered over the hundreds of fires lighting the city below her.  She spotted the square where she'd emerged from the catacombs along the docks, that very first night.  A cursed night.  She wished it had never happened.  
  
She descended, coming to rest against the wall of the Palladium.  She thought she might have seen a carriage just around the corner, at the entrance.  
  
There were boxes lining the walls here in large piles, perhaps in preparation for the next League of Legends game.  Navigating her way through them, she found the horse-drawn carriage, and next to it stood Luther, who had just secured its cargo on the top.  Beside him...  
  
...was her.  
  
"I'm going to miss you," Lux heard her soft, friendly voice say.  
  
"It's not goodbye," Luther smiled.  "We'll be following behind you soon enough.  Say 'hello' to your brother for me."  
  
The other Lux jumped up and hugged him, causing the real Lux to emerge, ready to interrupt.  
  
But something had grabbed Lux's leg.  She looked down.  There was a golden cord, glowing, wrapped around her ankle.  She looked to find where it was coming from.  
  
Something heavy hit her in the chest.  Some kind of light!  
  
A shock ran up her leg, as though electricity was shooting into her through the cord.  It She yelled in pain, but no sound emerged from her lips and she collapsed to the ground.  Her throat tightened as she tried to call out for help.  Lying on her side, she watched helplessly as the scene played out in front of her.  
  
"Tanis got those documents to the general, right?" the other Lux asked.  She had the spellbook resting under her arm.  
  
Luther opened the carriage door.  
  
"Everything is taken care of.  You've saved the lives of thousands of people, Lux.  You've done enough.  Now you can go home."  
  
They embraced one last time as Luther closed the carriage door and stepped back.  Lux watched helplessly as the carriage drove away.  Her voice hung open in desperation, trying to say anything.  
  
Someone's foot flipped her onto her back, and Lux saw her captor.  
  
The burning torches of the evening hung overhead, cloaking the figure in shadow.  It was dressed in a grand cape with a tall collar.  Its head had short, dark hair crested with a decorative headdress.  It was a woman.  
  
The figure slowly raised a crescent staff, hung with three glowing red gems, casting a dim red light across the face's soft smile.  The gems churned and hummed as a ball of yellow magic fired at Lux, turning her vision to darkness.


	17. The Grand Illusion

_Lux looked around the light-filled chamber. It was, she decided, her bedroom. Around her were familiar faces: her childhood toys, gifts from her friends, her relatives. A treasured birthday present, a golden locket, rested happily on a brass vanity. She avoided looking into the mirror. On the bed was a large, plush doll named Sir Lion. It was her favorite of all her stuffed animals because it was a gift from Garen, her brother. Her hands ran along the cotton sheets of her bed. The feeling was familiar. She buried her head into Sir Lion. Above the bed was a window, and she could hear the sound of an unending song of distant bells. Grasping desperately at the toy, she stood on the bed and pressed herself against the window._

_Before her was a glorious display, floating spires and parapets of Demacian beauty swam before her, veiled by misty stratus. The sun's light favored the fair side of the stone and marble. Each building was a testament to the greatness of the city. Each window was a chapter, and each bell was a verse. And with the bells sang a chorus of Demacians in an unrecognizable but familiar song._

_The glass had gone now, because Lux had stepped forward and was walking among the towers. She admired every angle of the city. She espied her favorite shops, fountains, trees. And above the city a racing sea of clouds boiled, and she understood it to be unnatural. Yet it only made the scenery seem more wondrous._

_But she looked back at her window, because in all the city's beauty she saw no people. There they were, watching her from her bedroom._

_She came back and met her father._

_"You will serve the crown as your family has for generations," he stated unemotionally._

_The entirety of Demacia watched them from her bedroom, including the king._

_"No, father," Lux responded. "Demacia needs me."_

_"You will fight to protect your country and your king."_

_Lux said the things she had always wanted to say but never had: "Father, the sword is weak. For generations magic was used in the same manner as a sword, and now we hate it and fear it. But magic can be far greater than any weapon. It is a part of us, or rather we are a part of it. It is a promise of something greater than the body and greater than the grave. But we grasped at the thread of a fabric woven eons before us, and in our desperation turn it loose. We still tug at that thread."_

_Her father stood, unhearing. The crowd listened eagerly._

_"Father, I have an obligation. I understand magic in a way that no other can, and if I do not dedicate my life, my heart to that gift, am I truly serving Demacia? Do you not see that? Give me a dull blade and I will only be pulling still at that thread!"_

_"Serve your king!" he insisted, grabbing her arm. "Look here, King Jarvan. I have found you a great gift."_

_The king, crowned with glory, stepped forward and stood beside her father._

_"No!" Lux shouted, pulling away._

_"Go and fight for Demacia, my secret weapon," declared the king._

_Lux observed that she wore a beautiful suit of polished silver armor. The flag of Demacia enveloped her as the people cheered._

_She was in a battlefield. Demacia’s armies were overrunning the destroyed city of Noxus. Her brother stood beside her as they fought, slaying the demons of Noxus as they fell upon them desperately. The chimes of victorious bells were replaced by the screams of death._

_Reginald was beside her too. They were walking down Broken Bridge, past the remains of many familiar shops. The children were no longer playing, but running. Lux spotted a child with long red hair emerging from amongst the rubble, running frightened from her, even as she pursued to comfort._

_Lux grabbed her shoulder, and turning her she that that it was Katarina, fully grown and not a child._

_"Noxus is over," Lux yelled at her. "Its people are finally free. They see you for what you are."_

_Katarina said nothing. Her body, she saw, was covered with scars, and her eyes were burning._

_Lux looked all around her at the frightened, weary faces of the Noxians, who lay about her, waking up from their sleep._

_"Take back your freedom!" Lux called to them. "The High Command has fallen, and your lives are now your own."_

_Lux rose into the air, magic of light swirling all around her, lighting up the entire city for enemy and ally to see. As it filled the whole of the city street, the people of Noxus began to stand._

_Katarina still said nothing, clutching her weapons, unwilling to move or change._

_Lux felt hands pulling on her armor._

_In horror, she watched as the people of Noxus dragged her down to them, despite her great light._

_"Noxus!" they cried in hope. "Noxus!"_

_"No!" Lux pleaded, clawing at the dirt. “Rise with me! Please, you don't understand!"_

_The ground rose up to envelope her, and as she clawed at the surrounding dirt, Katarina stood over her._

_"Blood!" she cried. "For Noxus!"_

_The streets erupted in an eternal cheer as a dagger pierced Lux’s spine._

She awoke.

Her hands were bound to the back of a chair. The area was a sea of darkness with only a single circle of light in front of her. Had she truly woken up?

Into the light moved a long brass staff painted with bands of gold and silver. It crescent tip looked familiar, three red crystals floating mysteriously within it. The staff’s stunning owner, enveloped by a fantastic cape of gold and black, stepped into the light. The cape surrounded a smooth, thin, white body of bare skin wrapped in small bands of fabric that clutched at their owner like webbing. A black drape skirt fluttered over the posed legs, but only the right side. Both legs were dressed in black leggings pulled far above the knees. The clacking of her golden heels halted, and her staff rapped against the stone. Now she was standing in the center of the spotlight. A heavily-coated pair of lips smiled and the painted eyes of LeBlanc smiled as well. Her short, artificially-blue hair was crested with the familiar headdress that Lux has seen in Ayer's drawing. The only part of her that now moved was the cape, slowly coming to rest around its owner.

"Welcome, Luxanna Crownguard," she said theatrically. Her voice echoed. It wasn’t a dream.

Lux pulled at her bindings, spinning her head around to discover where she was. But she could barely make out her own appearance in this darkness.

"Your long journey has finally come to its end," LeBlanc continued, whipping her blue hair with her hand.

There was a brief and awkward pause. LeBlanc’s eyes rolled above her as though she was expecting something.

"Darling," she whispered encouragingly through her smiling white teeth. "It's your line."

"Where am I?"

The woman hummed a self-indulgent laugh. "Mmm... You're deep beneath the city, my dear. In fact, this is an entirely other city, one once ruled by The Black Rose. You see, Noxus has built itself, one generation after the other, on the skeletons of its forefathers. More specifically, Luxanna, you find yourself on a stage."

"A... stage?"

"Yes, a marvelous stage!" LeBlanc projected, both arms lifted, displaying nothing but darkness. She spun around in place, taking in the blackness of imagination.

"It looks like a prison," Lux argued, observing the stone floor.

"It can be whatever you want it to be, sweetie," LeBlanc cooed, running her fingers over the crescent tip of the staff. 

The continuous use of pet names was starting to annoy Lux. She struggled further still as LeBlanc approached her, her hand drawing nearer to her. The spotlight seemed to follow the woman, and now they were both dressed in blinding light.

"What do you want with me?"

"Ha, what a question!" the woman smiled, stepping casually around Lux’s chair. The thin fabrics that made up her costume emphasized her body's every rotation. "All I want is for you to stay put for now. You've already done... so much for me."

"What do you-"

“Oh, please,” she stopped behind the chair, pushing her hand messily into Lux’s hair. “Don't spoil the fun with such tedious, uninspired questions. Ugh, you’ve no stage presence at all. Of course, tying you to a chair does limit your options, I suppose. You’ll just have to be more creative…”

Lux pushed the hand off with her head. She looked out of the spotlight. She had no reason to believe that there was any kind of audience here.

"Why am I here?"

"I'll tell you what," LeBlanc said dismissively, clearly dissatisfied with Lux's questions. She stepped away from the chair and stood back in front of Lux, arms crossed. The spotlight followed her, and Lux was back in darkness. "I'll ask the questions for you."

She coughed needlessly into her hand and spoke, her voice suddenly identical to Lux’s.

"But LeBlanc? How do you know my name? We've never even met!"

LeBlanc without hesitation began playing both parts, speaking her own lines in her own voice.

"Oh, you naive girl, don't you know that I've been watching your every move ever since you came into my city?"

She played up Lux’s lines like a foil, making her sound vapid and naive.

"But, truly, how could that even be? No one could have known who I was!"

"Fool!" LeBlanc turned dramatically to her captor and pointed, as though she had been the one speaking. "The eyes of the Black Rose are all over this city, and I have had you under my thumb from the start!"

She put her hands to her face, taking on Lux’s voice again.

"I don't believe it!"

"You're insane," said Lux.

LeBlanc immediately laughed in a high, false laugh. She seemed to revel in the effect of its theatricality, swooning and spinning.

"Let's not call names, dear. We were getting along so nicely."

"You were talking to yourself!"

LeBlanc stopped her dancing, her face melted into a pout.

"You're no fun. Your poor mind really has been hammered away by the military, hasn't it?" LeBlanc said sympathetically. Her hands slipped into her cape. ”It's really a wonder you maintained your superb intelligence. But really, let's be honest about who has the troubled mind."

Lux recoiled. "What are you saying? I'm not mad."

LeBlanc ignored her, looking down and producing Lux’s satchel from beneath her cloak. As the cloak opened, Lux spied a familiar object tied to LeBlanc’s hip.

“My spellbook!”

“Oh, is this yours? I got it from a friend of yours. You must have not wanted it anymore, because he didn’t seem the mage type…”

"Where is Ayer?" Lux demanded. "What have you done with him?"

LeBlanc took her free hand and leaned mildly over her staff.

"You must mean Ayer Archtemplar, that traitor to the crown and former member of the Black Rose. Yes, now that I think about it, I did see him. And you’ll see him soon enough, I’m sure. He's quite clever. And he won’t be the only one joining us…”

Lux continued to struggle as LeBlanc fingered through Lux’s satchel, humming merrily. She withdrew the vision ward between her painted fingernails.

“Oh, this must have come in handy,” she marveled. “This can see right through my shadow magic. Oops!”

She dropped it clumsily to the ground. The eye spun around mechanically before her heel crushed it into pink dust.

"Where were we?” she put her hands together, letting the satchel fall. “Ah! Yes, you were supposed to ask me how I knew that you were a Demacian spy. For the record, I also know that you infiltrated the High Command and learned the truth about its war crimes against Ionia. What an adventure! And to think, you had once been just a simple spell thief."

Lux was beside herself.

"Tell me!" she demanded.

"Oh, but it's only the First Act," the maven gripped her staff in both hands. "I'll be return for my next scene. Maybe you should spend a little more time thinking over your lines, hmm?”

The floating crystals in the staff hummed, and in a puff of smoke she was gone.

The echo lingered. With a metal 'clack', the spotlight shut off, as though controlled by machinery, and now there was nothing around her but darkness.

Her ears sought out any kind of noise to register, but there was nothing. No wind or drips of water or even the skittering of bugs could be heard.

Hours passed in silence. The only noise was her grunts of frustration as she pulled at her strange bindings. They were smooth and without knot.

How long had she been out? What day was it?

She tried to move the chair, but it wouldn’t budge at all.

Even if it only had been a few hours, the Sprig of Silver must already be gone, on its way back to Demacia. For all they knew, she was too. Luther had seen LeBlanc’s illusion step into that carriage. She was alone and at the mercy of her captor. The only person that might be able to find her was…

She heard the distant shuffling of boots in the darkness.

"Lux?" came a familiar voice. She gasped.

"Ayer!" she whispered desperately in the voice’s direction.

The steps approached her, so soft that she was surprised when Ayer touched her hands.

He shushed her and fiddled with the binding. He touched her arm to get her to stop struggling. 

She was so happy he was here. She had hoped so badly that he’d come back for her.

He turned and turned the binding, then he swore and simply cut it with a knife from his belt. Lux immediately pulled her hands free, leaning forward and rubbing her wrists. They were still totally in darkness.

"LeBlanc will be back," he warned. She heard him come around beside her. "I don't know what she wants with you…”

Lux, her hands free, turned and clutched for his coat.

"We should move quickly," he continued, setting his hand on her shoulder. "It's necessary that we don't arouse-"

Lux had pulled herself into his arms and pressed her lips against his. 

Her heart pounded against his chest in the blackness. Her lips released a desperate sound of satisfaction. Ayer gripped her by the shoulders. His lips braced, but Lux moved her hands from the cloak to the back of his head. She felt her fingers slip through his long, unseen hair. Finally, his resistance melted. They enjoyed the moment before finally he parted them forcefully. The only sound was the breath of their release.

Lux's face hurt from her first real, true smile in a long time. Her body was pulsing, and her hands buzzed as they reached for his.

But as she felt them, she stopped. Something wasn't right. The hands were soft and small, like hers. The wrists were bare and smooth.

A sharp clack resounded above them, and a small, whirring noise preceded the slow return of the spotlight. Slowly, a circle of light grew from the blackness above them, eventually providing visibility on the slender, familiar figure before her.

A sharp intake of breath, and her hands shot over her mouth as a sense of horror rushed over her entire body.

"Well," said the figure bemusedly, her lips parting into a mischievous grin. She wiped them with the tip of her thumb. "That was interesting!”

"No..." Lux breathed, falling into the chair, injuring herself.

The spotlight burned at full strength, revealing LeBlanc, not Ayer, standing before her. The cloak that had belonged to him lay around her heels. She grabbed her staff like a shadow from the edge of the spotlight, and she stepped forward, hovering around Lux. The spotlight continued to follow her.

"Oh, yes," she explained. "That is how I know you so well, Luxanna. I have been playing the part of Ayer for a long time, long before you came to this city…”

Lux stayed on the ground, unable to process anything.

"I feel so... fulfilled that my performance convinced you so... That really was some kiss. Was it your first kiss?"

Lux felt like wasting away. She felt hollow.

"He was a real person, of course, before I killed him. You see, not all of the families were happy with my being selected as matron. Some of them got cold feet, decided to make bad choices… This was long before you arrived. Oh, Ayer, he thought he was so clever, hiding from us in the tomb of his ancestors. But unfortunately for him, he never knew that his young bride, Sinistra, remained loyal to the family. And in the end, his expert blade was no match for the power of my illusion magic, so I killed him and left his broken body to be eaten by spiders in his precious catacombs."

LeBlanc leaned down to Lux to ensure that she had her full attention, holding a familiar piece of paper in her hand.

"When I came back to observe his dead body, its deadlocked hands gripped this letter... to his lovely wife Sinistra, whom he had loved so dear... He must have not understood, because he gave her the exact coordinates to his hideout. That’s when I found out all about the Sprig of Silver. And so I became Ayer Archtemplar. And not long after that I met you..."

She smiled at Lux, then shifted to a tone of condescension, standing back up.

"Do you understand how much effort and planning brought you from the merchant streets to the Ivory Ward? Don't you see the beautiful irony of using Ayer's love note as an instrument of your manipulation?"

Lux's silence did not entreat her. She remained hopelessly sprawled on the floor.

"My god, LeBlanc," the illusionist chose to continue on her behalf, mimicking her voice again. "How could you? You've deceived not only the spies of Demacia but also my heart!"

"And thanks to you," she pointed the staff at her dramatically. "The secrets of Noxus have been spilled to Demacia's eager politicians, and shortly all of Valoran will know of the High Command's treachery. This one trick will be the small beginnings of a masterstroke! The Black Rose, in all its beauty, will bloom once more!"

She once again spoke on Lux's behalf.

"Surely, LeBlanc, we have all been marvelously deceived by you!"

Lux finally responded, unable to stand LeBlanc's charade anymore.

"Shut up!"

"I've not yet begun to monologue!" LeBlanc cried out, cueing the entire area to light up.

The place began to shimmer with hundreds of small, flying spots of color as a calliope began to play, filling the room with a haunting, bouncy tune. The abundance of reflected light reached over the entire area, revealing that they were indeed on an incredible stage of stone, with an auditorium full of seats for hundreds of Noxians.

LeBlanc's voice rose in drama, as though building ever-slowly towards a crescendo. A single card alighted in her hand, held across so that it appeared only as a thin line.

"Katarina du Couteau, the jewel of her father, was so apparently fascinated by you. She could see through any of my illusions in an instant, and yet you drew her inexplicably towards your lie. Something about you captivated her so that any inevitable doubt that surfaced was ignored. I expect she knew, like I did, that you could be molded into a weapon, like a dog, eager for a master to please."

She put her hand to her cheek with a hopeless expression.

"So easily manipulated... So naive... But what else do you expect from a noble of the Demacian crown?”

The music reminded Lux of the circus. It mocked her as LeBlanc’s voice rose.

"Do you understand now, why we so hate your country? If you were truly born a Noxian, maybe you would be standing here, where I am now, accomplishing marvelous things with your immense potential. But that's all you'll ever be now is pitiful potential. You are doomed, as you are, to be forever the play thing of your precious idealism, a puppet for the truly powerful. A harsh lesson, I'm sure, but you might as well understand the tragedy before the curtain falls."

LeBlanc tossed the card, which spun sliding onto the floor in front of Lux. On its face was a half-covered, black portrait surrounded by stars. The hidden visage held a smiling masque that covered its left side.

Lux eventually picked up the oversized card and turned it over. The image on the back was identical, but reversed. Now the left half of the face was hidden in shadows and the right half was a different kind of smile entirely, one made of bone.

"Demacia is a lie," LeBlanc sneered, her chin finally lowering. "Do you remember, Lux, that night on the bridge, when you poured your heart out to me, to a stranger with ill intent? You spoke of a light that came from within. Your little heart churned with passion and chained desperation, on and on about the light, the light…”

Lux drew farther backwards onto her hands, at the mercy of the illusionist.

"Light..." she continued. "...is my chief tool. It is the element of deceit, able to be manipulated in any way I see fit. Where you saw a man stood a woman. And I can take a red flower and make it appear black. Light is nothing more than my tool. So too the light of Demacia!

"You came into my city presuming yourself a savior, like a beacon to the swirling masses. Luxanna you shine no such light. You see light and suppose it is yours, but your eyes are only full of stars. So I turned and twisted those stars. You see them above you now?"

She pointed to the stage lights, scattered around the ceiling, humming with electric power.

"Demacia..." she purred. She stood mercilessly over her victim, who had no weapon against her vicious philosophy.

She spun around and stared off at something in the darkness.

"Yes! The Final Act approaches! Behold, ‘Sinistra’, the power of the Black Rose and the defeat of its enemies!"

Lux got to her feet. She had had enough. She may be unable to use Luminosity, but she had plenty of spells to spare. LeBlanc remained turned away from her, leaving herself exposed.

"You wish to fight me? But aren't you late for something? Yes! You are set to appear before the High Command this very evening, you know! You wouldn't want to miss it..."

A strong realization hit Lux like a brick. She dropped the card.

"You aren't working for the High Command! You don't care about Demacia!" she yelled. "This is about Katarina!"

"Ah, I see you're truly awake now," the illusionist turned back to face her. "Not just Katarina. The entire aristocracy will see its demise, and the spawn of Du Couteau will be our first victim…”

"LeBlanc!" a sharp voice rang out across the entirety of the underground amphitheater.

Katarina Du Couteau stood at the top of the steps, looking down on them.

"Step away from Sinistra. You're done meddling in my affairs!"

She drew her two largest blades. LeBlanc laughed loudly in reply, echoing through the entire place.

"Come up to the stage, Kitty Kat, so that you may participate in your own undoing!"

“You’re a fool to willingly dance with me,” Katarina growled, running forward.

"Stay back," Lux warned Katarina. "She's some kind of illusionist. You're playing into her hands!"

"Like hell I will," yelled Katarina, leaping gracefully from halfway down the steps up onto the stage.

Just as she landed, columns of fire shot up from around the edges of the stage behind her, separating the three of them from the front of the amphitheater like a cage.

“You dared to threaten me,” she growled. “Your people chose a foolish leader.”

"The time for words is over!" LeBlanc announced. "This is the spectacle!"

A blistering ball of magic emerged from her staff, striking Lux in the chest. Instead of knocking her back, Lux felt a kind of hollowness inside of her. A second spell struck her right in the face. She cried out, only to discover that no sound left her lips. She couldn't make any sound at all! As Katarina dashed towards her target, Lux could not warn her. In desperation, she hoped to conjure a spell, but not a hint of magic could be felt.

Silenced!

Katarina swung her blade and watched it miss LeBlanc, who had suddenly dashed out of harms way several feet to the right. Or had she been there to begin with? Katarina did not relent, spinning and slicing at LeBlanc simple attempts to dodge. As Katarina drew closer with each strike, she finally lifted herself into the air and, again, struck Lux with silence spells.

"What are you doing to her?" Katarina demanded. "Sinistra, what's wrong?'"

Katarina saw Lux's helpless expression and seemed to understand.

"If it's a duel you want, LeBlanc, it's a duel you'll get! Sinistra, stay out of this!"

But Lux was already running headlong towards LeBlanc and, with a desperate jump, grappled her to the ground. The woman struggled and cried out.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" 

Her staff began to hum as it jostled against Lux's side. Lux looked at it and thought she saw a glimpse of a familiar magic, one she’d studied at Blacktorch…

"Sinistra, leave off!" Katarina demanded yet still approached, ready to take full advantage.

There was a powerful explosion of brief smoke. They could see LeBlanc continuing to struggle in Lux’s arms, kicking with her exposed legs, but now beside them was a figure, identical to LeBlanc in every way. This new LeBlanc struck Lux in the center of her back with her own staff, causing her doppelgänger to be released.

Katarina hesitated, looking back and forth at the two LeBlancs.

"Tricky, aren't I?" they both cooed with a disturbing echo, turning to Katarina. "C'mon and try your luck, fortune's favor."

"I'll just kill them both!" Katarina yelled, throwing her blade. It was the bouncing-blade technique Lux had seen her use before. The first target was struck, then the second target took the knife right in the chest. This LeBlanc fell down gasping to the floor before quickly collapsing, dead. Her staff clanged on the ground, the three lifeless gems rolling noisily across the floor. 

The illusion disappeared in another puff of smoke. The cheek of the remaining LeBlanc bled a thin red line. The maven’s lips pursed in anger.

Katarina's face briefly shone with a victorious grin before being knocked to the ground by a bolt of magic. Behind her, emerging from a gap in the flames was a short, bald man in a green tunic, left arm outstretched.

"I've been wanting to do that for years!" screamed Boaz, his clenched hand sizzling with spent magic.

Lux cried out in surprise but made no sound.

LeBlanc couldn’t help but giggle, glancing at Lux.

It was the same man Lux had seen die in front of her eyes. She'd seen Ayer’s blade... No... Now that she thought about it... What had she seen?

Lux saw some of the stage lights adjust, whirring above the players below. Katarina was already back on her feet, positioning herself evenly between the two opponents.

"Two mages..." she muttered. "I hate magic."

LeBlanc raised herself up dramatically.

"Have it your way!"

The calliope played on as a section of lights shut off, causing LeBlanc to vanish. When the light returned, a swordsman was in her place, standing straight and holding a rapier steadily upright in front of his face. His eyes opened. It was Ayer.

Katarina betrayed a look of shock.

"The Demacian spy?"

In an instant, Ayer was on her. His blade was so swift, it seemed to bypass Katarina’s every deflection, forcing her to dodge and retreat. His large cloak floated around him like a veil. His long white hair sprung up as he ducked and dove. Lux desperately tried to say something.

Boaz happily flanked Katarina, a bluish swirl forming over his raised hand. But he edged too close to Lux, and she grabbed him.

"Hey! Let go, filthy underrot!"

The stage fire, possibly out of fuel, dispersed with a hiss. Out of the holes, now a mist was spilling out over the stage, enveloping them and eventually the whole space. Each stage light’s volume was visible in the cloud. The calliope halted and was replaced by the ominous playing of a pipe organ. The music was fast, one note chasing after the other.

Ayer continued to assault Katarina with vicious strikes, causing her to fall backwards until she was at the edge of the stage, mist spilling over it. Katarina quickly hopped off.

But she seemed to realize her mistake, jumping right back onto the stage.

The mouth of a black dog snapped at her, its collar held by the chains of a black, hooded figure. The creature barked, and a chorus of growls triggered behind it. The entire stage was surrounded by these figures, their approach hidden by the mist.

"Trapped like rats!" Boaz squealed with glee, cutting Lux across the face with his fat fist.

"The Black Rose welcomes you, Katarina du Couteau, to your final bow," said the low, patient voice of Ayer. "I knew you'd come for your precious Sinistra. You wouldn't want her to miss her audition."

Lux could feel the silence spell finally losing its grip. She rubbed at her face and ran at Boaz again, but this time he was ready for her. He ducked into the mist and grabbed her by the hair. A scream escaped her lips.

With a quick turn, Ayer's illusion briefly faded as the painted brass crescent appeared from beneath the cloak. A crackling ball of light shot towards Lux, who grabbed Boaz by the wrist and wrestled him in between her and the incoming spells. Two bolts of energy struck him in his gut and he fell with a yelp to the floor.

Katarina jumped, flipping over Ayer and throwing a dagger, but the crescent staff blocked the projectile, melting back into the image of a rapier. Ayer lunged and struck Katarina in her side, causing her to grimace and collapse, rolling to the ground. The injury was severe.

"If only you could be with us at the finale," said the illusion menacingly, lowering the weapon. Katarina writhed on the floor. "But it really must be this way..."

He raised the rapier above his shoulder with one hand, intent to stab a death blow.

"Ayer!" came a cold, low voice over the entire area. The hooded members of the Black Rose shuffled in confusion.

From the dark mist came the yelp of a dog followed by the wet groan of human suffering. Talon leapt onto the stage, his large blade soaked with blood. The cloak of daggers swung around him.

"For the house of Du Couteau..." he began. "Your treachery ends tonight."

"It's LeBlanc! " Lux was finally able to cry out. "Ayer is an illusion!"

Talon turned to Lux, realization spreading over his desperate expression.

"So that's why I could never land a blow!" he growled, turning to his mark. "Now I see!"

Ayer looked over his shoulder at him, blade raised to strike again at the injured Katarina. His eyes narrowed.

"Servant of snakes..." he hissed, ducking into the mist, hidden from sight. Suddenly, the form emerged, leaping so high beneath the stage lights above, raising his blade to plummet straight at Talon. His face was terrible, full of fury.

The swordsman yelled, the spotlights following his long descent before quite suddenly disappearing into nothing over Talon's braced body.

A golden cord shot out of the mist in front of him, wrapping itself around Talon's blade arm. It pulsed with a fiery energy as LeBlanc, in her true form, emerged again. A pulse shot out of the cord, causing Talon to seize up, as though he had been electrified. In an instant, LeBlanc dashed towards him.

At the same time, Boaz rose up from the mist, floating and summoning what Lux recognized to be his spell of light arrows.

"Die!" the illusionist yelled at her rigid target, staff upheld.

"You first," said Talon, as he raised his left hand, clenching it with a decisive flick of his wrist. His cloak of daggers suddenly burst, shards of metal separating from the leather bands. The shards flew into the air, shimmering like fish in the spotlights, hovering in a giant circle over the illusionist. LeBlanc hesitated, watching their ascent. They froze before quickly flying towards the woman, causing her to cry out and duck.

She retreated back into the mist, her glorious cloak shredded in an instant by the flying blades, returning, Lux saw, back to their owner, now guarding Katarina.

The daggers retracted back into the cloak, bouncing around Talon as though they had never left.

The mist receded and Boaz, Lux saw, was dead on the floor in a pool of blood.

"Bastard!" LeBlanc yelled, returning quickly to her feet. "He owed me money!"

"Sinistra, to me!" Talon yelled, hoisting Katarina over his shoulder. Lux rushed over to him, eyeing his blade-covered profile in fear. 

The host of The Black Rose clambered onto the stage now, slowly surrounding them. The chained dogs snapped at the air with mad growls. The crowd slipped past LeBlanc, whose tattered profile remained at the stage's edge, apparently through.

"A thrilling spectacle," she panted, leaning on her staff. "But all things must end. We have need of that girl."

Talon glanced at Lux. The distrust in his eyes returned.

"I..." Katarina shuddered in Talon's arms. "...can take them."

"We're done here," Talon whispered to her. "They want her, not us."

Katarina's eyes opened. They looked at Lux. It must have been the light of the stage, but Lux thought she saw warmth.

The eyes blinked and turned angrily to the enemy. The spotlights were countless, hovering in the blackness above the cloaks, hiding their faces. Katarina slipped off Talon’s back, reached for her knives and began counting...

Lux, no longer silenced, could feel the spells returning to her mind... Strange, she thought, how discomforting it felt...

"Goodbye, Katarina," said LeBlanc weakly, the theatricality of her voice having been spent.

The hounds were loosed and the cultists' hands gleamed with weaponry.

But in an instant the air above them became a shower of sparks. In short explosions of light, Lux witnessed Katarina's form spinning with the successive throwing of daggers. Each one flew through the air, above the crowd, striking the aging mechanisms of theatre. The approaching dogs hesitated as equipment landed around them, electricity and metal bouncing into their faces. In a matter of seconds the entire place was blackness.

Lux felt herself being carried up. The cold steel of Talon's cloak chilled her and the commotion of the stage slipped away, the illusionist's matronly voice howling in rage.


	18. The Beast Within

Whatever camaraderie and trust Lux had felt she had earned from Talon was already gone. He had been trying for an hour to convince Katarina to cancel her audience with the High Command. 

"That witch LeBlanc..." he flung his fist onto the general’s mahogany desk. “…Was surely intent on using this girl to some end." 

Their encounter with The Black Rose had unsettled him, and whatever was the normal code of contact he followed in service of the Du Couteau family, he was abandoning it now.

But Katarina was having none of it. She sat in her father’s chair, nursing her new wounds at her father's desk in the High Command, staring Talon down. She defended Lux like a lion guarding its bounty. As far as she was concerned, LeBlanc's effort to kill her had hardened her resolve to beyond the point of contention. In her mind, Lux’s induction into the League of Legends was a true masterstroke that would elevate her and, by proxy, her father to renewed standing within the High Command. A threat on her life seemed to her an indication that she was doing something right.

"They captured her to try and stop me! And they wanted me dead!” she growled. “Clearly this new Black Rose is under the thumb of one of our enemies... We must proceed, Talon, at all costs!"

Lux sat in the corner of the room, not participating in the conversation. She stared at the bindings of the spellbook in her hands. Talon had stolen it back from LeBlanc during the fight, along with her satchel and wand. But possessions meant nothing to her right now, because she was convinced that tonight she would die.

Terror overcame her, and she sat like a stone statue, looking off into somewhere past the floor, listening to the two antagonistic voices arguing her fate. 

On the other side of that massive, harrowing door in the throat of the skull were five of the most powerful men in the world. Unquestionably, she could not deceive them all. Escape was the only option to avoid death, but it felt like she had been running from this fate ever since she saw it in a vision.

Her fate had been chosen for her.

LeBlanc's plan all along, she knew now, was for her to be found out, to betray the house of Du Couteau. While all this time she thought she was serving Demacia, she had been the instrument of a Noxian plot.

Ayer had been LeBlanc. Had the real Ayer been a good person, the one that she had grown fond of over the last months? It didn’t matter, she told herself. Even if LeBlanc had been the best actor in the world, it wouldn’t change the fact that her memories of Ayer were false, and that they should be abandoned. And yet she couldn’t deny that her feelings for him were real, even if they were attached to an illusion. How do you abandon a memory? How do you deny something that is a part of who you are?

Confusion and doubt had replaced assurance and faith. She couldn’t bear to think of herself as a Demacian any longer. She had not lost her true love for the principles and purpose of her homeland. That wasn’t possible. That was who she was. But she had seen herself in the mirror and did not see the Demacian she thought she was, who she wanted to be. She saw Sinistra, the one who would stand before the High Command.

If she stepped through those doors, she knew, they would discover the truth. They would discover that she was no Noxian, and that she had been allowed to live for half a year in their city, sharing their secrets with the world. She had been let into The High Command itself, had stolen their magic, undermined their military operations and discovered their Chemical Weapons Program, all with the help of Katarina Du Couteau and under the authority of her father.

Lux couldn't help but think of the moment that Katarina let her live, that fatal mistake Katarina had made. It had led to all of this, for which her father would inevitably take the blame… just like the first time.

She looked up at Katarina, at the scar that she allowed to mar her face.

“If the General knew about these events, he would halt this audience immediately,” Talon continued. “He would wisely err on the side of caution, and you know it. It’s his decision to make, not yours!”

"It's my decision!" Katarina snapped. "Don't take this away from me, Talon!"

Talon's voice descended into a foreboding tone. "I understand that this is important to you..."

"You don't understand!" Katarina stood up from her father's chair. "Get out of my sight before I gut you..."

"I've stood by and let you make choices behind your father's back," he yelled. "And so far it's done you no apparent harm. But what if it's all a trap? What if you're wrong, Katarina?"

Katarina slapped Talon in the face, her chest heaving.

"This... Is my chance... Talon..."

He hadn't budged an inch. His face was marked red where he'd been struck. He said nothing in reply. Katarina drew close to him, her body pressed against his. Her voice lowered in volume, but its intensity only seemed greater.

"The audience... is minutes away. You want me to stop now? You want me to take it all back?"

She gestured broadly in Lux’s direction, as if she were a kind of large object. Her voice was filled with desperation.

"I've invested... everything... in this... My father has gone out of his way, at my insistence, to set up this audience. You know... You know they favor Jericho Swain. He represents no house of the aristocracy. He is no ally of ours. You want him at the Institute of War? Do you want that demon to have even more sway over these courts?"

Talon remained stalwart, but Lux could tell that Katarina was speaking on a level at which he did not participate. He raised up, lowering his guard.

"Katarina..." Talon said quietly. "I am on your side."

Lux’s eyes widened. The night LeBlanc, disguised as the swordsman Ayer, had convinced Lux to go behind the back of her superiors, Lux had an argument much like this one with Reginald, her closest friend. She had resolved herself to act out of her own self-interest, and in that moment her friend seemed her enemy, even as he reached out to help her. 

She saw the same scene playing out now, between Katarina and Talon.

“We won’t get a second chance at this,” Katarina pleaded.

Talon closed his eyes and spoke.

“It’s your decision.”

“Thank you,” Katarina snarled quietly.

“Don’t thank me,” he said calmly, so calm it seemed threatening. “You take what you want because you can, but that doesn’t mean you should.”

She drew a dagger and held it to his throat.

“Taunt me again, I dare you, filth of the underrot, born in the gutter, presuming to counsel me… I am free to choose by right, pulsing with the blood of those fit to rule. You are the slave. You are free to say nothing, do nothing. Your life is worth nothing.”

Talon didn’t react. The blade scraped against his unshaven whiskers.

“And yet I am not the one burdened by regret.”

To which, with held aggression, she replied...

"Get. Out."

Talon's face betrayed no emotion. Lux suspected he didn't have the luxury in his life to ever learn how to share feeling. But his distress was visible. In a melancholy and angry manner, he left, slamming the oak door behind him.

Katarina turned, her breath heavy with frustration, to Lux, who she saw was visibly shaking.

"Sinistra," she continued in her present tone of voice, unable to change it. "Stop it."

Lux's eyes met hers. She did her best not to whimper, but all she could think about was how she didn't want to die, and she thought terribly of herself for this.

"Coward," Katarina muttered, not yet ready to dispose of her anger.

Lux had to say something, anything, to convince Katarina to change her mind. But what?

Katarina sheathed her dagger and rubbed her hands over her face.

"You don't want this," Lux finally said, her voice more shaky than it wanted to be.

Katarina's eyes narrowed to a razor. She looked as if she might strangle Lux.

"I don't want this?"

Katarina drew near her at an angle, her head twisted to one side. She looked mad and dangerous. She knelt down in front of Lux, who's arms were wrapped around her legs, her uncut hair draping over her knees. Katarina forced her gaze.

"I've never wanted anything more in my life. You know this. You've been faithful at every step. What's changed now? What does Talon see that I don't see, Sinistra?"

Lux's shoulders came up near her ears. What could she say to convince her, other than the truth? Katarina may have grown fond of her... Maybe she even cared for her, but... If she knew the truth, there was no telling what would happen.

"Katarina... I just want to say..." Lux's lips were bone dry, and she did her best not to shake. "You've been so good to me. Before I met you, no one in Noxus gave me an ounce of respect. Now, people recognize me on the streets, in a good way. Men no longer look at me like a piece of meat. You taught me to stand up straight and defend myself. And I know it's the Noxian way, that you did it expecting something in return, but I wanted you to know..."

Katarina's muscles relaxed. Her face, honestly, looked confused, like she was hearing a foreign language. Her eyes widened as though witnessing something she never knew she desired.

"You gave me everything you promised me. You fulfilled your obligations. But you also gave me... something I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for."

Katarina nodded her head, seeming to understand.

"Yes, I gave you what you lost. I gave you respect. I gave you a family."

Lux shook her head, raising her eyes to the ceiling and holding back tears that she didn't expect to form. It was all coming out. It had to come out.

"No... Kat, you gave me... You see, the truth is that I hated Noxus. I hated the poor streets and the people that had to live there. I hated the aristocracy and the High Command. I despised all of it. And when I saw you in that tavern, maybe you saw that. I wanted to use the magic I've spent my whole life learning and destroy you with it.

"But you, of all people, you showed me mercy. You..."

Katarina interrupted her, looking disturbed.

"What are you talking about, Sinistra?"

Lux's voice cracked. She reached her hands towards her.

"I don't want to fail you! I don't want to be the one that ruins everything for you! I can't be the one that damns you!"

Katarina flinched. Lux continued, her voice raising.

"You're the only person in this miserable city that gave two shits about me!"

Lux’s face collapsed into her hands. Katarina shook her head, hovering her hands over Lux like she was a flame needing to be put out.

"You're... not going to fail me. I've trained you. You're ready!"

"No! No, no, no... Katarina, just call it off! Please... I'm..."

She could see it all unfolding before her eyes. The ravaged playhouse in the secret garden... MISTAKE...

"Sinistra, I command you to stop!"

Lux gasped. Her hands were wet with sweat on her black pants. She sat upright, forcing herself to stop, sniffling. She'd nearly told her... She'd nearly told her everything. It felt so good to release the lies... She remained, eyes closed, for several minutes, calming herself. When she finally opened her eyes, she found Katarina standing in a corner of bookshelves, head lowered.

"I'm sorry," Lux finally said.

"You'd better be," Katarina replied, still in the corner. She turned, a few of her red bangs curled as if she'd been wrapping her fingers around them. "That was a pitiful display."

Lux's lips tightened. Katarina threw a handkerchief at her.

"Clean yourself up. You're seeing the High Command for gods' sake."

Lux complied, weary that nothing she'd said seemed to have changed anything.

"You misunderstand your position, your role," Katarina began, her voice full of venom. "You and Talon both, you think you've earned some kind of responsibility. You... are pawns. This is my move. This is my game. It's my decision and my responsibility. Everything that happens in that room, in front of the High Command, will be mine. You will perform to the best of your abilities. You will be the best, for me. You did nothing to get into that room that I did not control."

She sat down in the chair previously occupied by Talon and leaned towards Lux.

"Now you listen to me. You will promise me that you will do whatever the hell I ask you, on pain of death."

Lux knew that it was pointless. It was over. They were both, the two of them, doomed.

"I... will," Lux finally conceded.

"Never," Katarina continued. "Cry in front of me again."

"Alright," Lux nodded.

Several minutes passed with no words between them. The only sound was passing footsteps and the clacking of a clock on the desk.

The door swung open and Katarina was immediately on her feet. Lux's head swung around and gazed upon the figure of General Marcus du Couteau.

He was the definition of strength. Tall, broad, confident… A decorated cloak of red covered both his shoulders, draping over both his arms. Upon his breast hung numerous medals that clacked together as he walked. His face was silent and unmoving, like a machine that had successfully calculated its way to victory through hundreds of battles and duels. He was truly a mesmerizing sight. Lux couldn't help but compare him to Katarina, who in his presence seemed far less.

Katarina responded to his entrance immediately.

"Father-" she began. "General, this is Sinistra. This is my candidate for the League of Legends."

The man’s eyes fell over Lux. She froze. He observed her every feature like she were a specimen. Lux’s awareness of her own dress… her hooded cloak, her outfit, her body... heightened dramatically. Finally, he grabbed her chin and observed her face, producing a look of immediate satisfaction.

"My daughter," he spoke. "You have chosen well."

Katarina smiled uncontrollably. "I know, father. She will bring Noxus, and our household, glory."

"Beauty and strength…” his fingers brushed aside one of Lux’s bangs. His hand was very warm. “You may have been born on the streets, my dear, but you were clearly born to fight and die in the League."

"M-may I be so bold..." Lux began, his touch making her very uncomfortable.

"Of course," said the general, predicting what she would say. "I will explain myself, since you've done so much for me already."

His voice was bold and strong, as if it could crush a man.

"There is one defining characteristic of those who join the League. Perhaps you have not seen it. I doubt that most have. It is not their strength, nor their wisdom, nor even their intelligence that deems them destined for the arena..."

He removed his hand and clenched it. Lux’s present fear vanished as he spoke, replaced by a new fear of this man.

"You have it. I can see it in your eyes, Sinistra. You clearly have something to fight for. You would die for 'that'. League champions must die to themselves, again and again. You would rise, having experienced the horror of death, to fight once more. It is an indelible mark. My daughter must have seen in you that same mark she has within herself."

Lux's blood ran cold. Were her and Katarina really so alike?

"If I might interject," said Katarina. Her father nodded in approval. He seemed in a good mood. "Her and I are quite different. She is hesitant to strike, poor with a weapon and stubborn."

Katarina, unexpectedly, grinned at her.

"But she is quick to defend, unmatched in magical skill, a genius of intellect... and a good friend."

Lux looked Katarina in the eyes and trembled. For the first time, Lux realized that she had done something truly terrible.

"Indeed, it seems that way," the General glanced between them. "Sinistra... after today, I want you to consider yourself a member of the Du Couteau family. I understand that your parents are dead."

Lux said nothing.

"I don't believe Katarina ever shared their names..."

Lux looked at Katarina and, hesitantly, back at General Marcus. For the first time, he frowned.

"Peasants, I understand," Katarina answered for her, looking at her expectantly. "She's understandably..."

"Ashamed," Lux finished, quick to change the subject. "I much prefer the name... of Du Couteau."

"Hmph," he only said. He removed a pocket watch from his coat and nodded. "Yes, it's time."

His cloak swirled in the speed of his turn. Lux followed in turn, at Katarina's signal, and the three of them marched grimly with the unseen striking of midnight. Twelve long bell strikes, somewhere above the rock, slowly rung out. They came to the main corridor of towering pillars, met by a host of golden-armored guards positioned outside the entrance to the High Command. Out past the march of giant stone pillars and the parapets lay the Noxian evening, ready to meet the will of The High Command. It was the warmest evening of the summer. It brought no comfort to Lux.

Somewhere out there, Lux thought, the secret was already out. The Sprig of Silver had the proof of Noxus's prison camps, its chemical weapons, its political misdeeds, on its way to Demacia.

She had... done something truly great, she supposed, perhaps deserving her this fate. She had betrayed the High Command and the Du Couteau’s, aiding their enemies. She had lived like a Noxian. She would die like a Noxian.

Everything about this city made her think of death. Maybe she’d known it from the day she stepped foot on the cobblestone, that she had damned herself coming here.

And yet, amazingly, her heart beckoned her now to stay positive: to hope. A part of her, untouched by this place, demanded that she be set apart, that she was different from them after all. That death, in spite of its looming reality, was not the end.

If I lose hope, she kept telling herself, I truly am dead.

But another part of her assured her that she already was.

Katarina gave Lux her spellbook, meeting her eyes only briefly. They were her soldier eyes, unwavering and emotionless. She told Lux what must be done and turned to their destination in leadership.

They continued past the Raedsel Guardsmen and stood before the stone door. Around it, the torches were burning. Lux could feel, unlike the last time she'd seen it, that the room was alive and waiting for her.

The doors opened with a loud scrape and a pink light washed over them. A giant, menacing eye floated in the blackness far in front of them, projecting this light. It was an all-seeing eye of vision observing the new arrivals.

General Du Couteau calmly stepped forward, his boots echoing on an onyx-black floor. His reflection followed below him. The pink light outlined his black profile, left hand rested on his belt, just beside his sword, his free hand held behind him, beneath the cloak.

Lux turned to Katarina as the two of them remained standing in the doorway. She looked so much older than she was. Her gaze was locked on her father, and her typical half-smile was there, possibly more pursed than usual. Was Lux waiting for a reassuring glance from her?

The general's voice boomed, echoing back multiple times. "The Hand of Noxus requests the entrance of Katarina and Sinistra Du Couteau."

A silky voice answered him, young and powerful. A pale hand appearing from the darkness below the eye.

"They are welcome."

The door closed behind them ceremoniously, and Lux became aware that the dark room was completely devoid of visible guard. The stone walls of the circular room were conspicuously empty. A few feet from them, a raised platform rested in a smaller circle of five incredible stone chairs, below which hung banners depicting the five held hands. The space between the trhones was vast, large enough to fit a catapult.

Marcus Du Couteau walked into the center of this circle where the black floor was decorated with five golden spears. Between the spears were images of beasts of types Lux recognized and some that were unfamiliar.

As Lux's eyes adjusted to the light of the room, she looked up at the eye of vision, larger than herself. It rested in the open mouth a gigantic skull of stone that rested above the Grand General’s throne. Its black eyes were open and expressive, as though eager to discover its guest's secrets. The magical eye it held between its teeth, Lux knew, could detect all forms of magical deceit. She imagined that LeBlanc would not dare set one foot in this room.

From over General Du Couteau's shoulder, she saw the owner of the floating hand lean forward as her and Katarina approached. The face that emerged into the faint light was inhuman, like a corpse covered in someone else's skin. The dead-like face grinned. An unknown age, Boram Darkwill was the oldest living Noxian and ruler of the High Command. Though he looked frail, the four men with whom he occupied this room all bowed to his will.

He would be the one to decide Lux's fate.

"Welcome, children of Noxus," he muttered, his voice strangely clear and strong. "My trusted general has requested your presence. Come and make yourselves known to us."

Katarina walked up and stood beside her father, turning to each of the four occupied chairs. The other occupants were hidden in darkness. Her voice was steady and bold.

"I am the daughter of the Hand of Noxus, the Sinister Blade: Katarina Du Couteau. I fight for the honor of Noxus by the will of the High Command in the League of Legends..."

Boram's face moved into what may have been a smile.

"It has been some time since we have seen you, Daughter of the Hand. Whom have you delivered to our counsel?"

Katarina turned plainly to Lux, making no motion or speech. They locked eyes for a moment. Lux looked at the floor briefly before ascending the steps and standing beside General Marcus. She could not feel her own heartbeat as she met the grand general's eyes.

"The youngest Noxian, I believe," mused Boram. "To ever grace our halls..."

The face removed itself from the light and reappeared at the stroke of a match. Lux was shocked to see a beautiful face alighted, holding a long pipe. He looked youthful and strong, flawless. The young man puffed on the pipe, closing his eyes, and released a fountain of smoke from his lips. Lux recognized him now. She had seen a statue of him in the corridors of the High Command.

General Darkwill looked just as he had over one-hundred years ago. The same energetic voice better matched his younger appearance. It faded in and out of the dark between puffs of smoking weed.

"Sinistra, the confidence of the Du Couteau's is so great that they would honor you with their family name. I am intrigued."

Lux thought to speak, but Katarina's look caused her pause.

"We have been looking," General Darkwill continued. "For some time. We have sought a new candidate to be offered to the League. It is understood that you are the country's most proficient mage. Your notoriety precedes you."

"Is it true that she has not been schooled in magic?" a firm, antagonistic voice emerged from one of the chairs.

Boram's dimly lit eyes flashed. He took another puff of smoke before turning to the three in the circle.

"Objections so soon?"

"Did you not hear our lord?" challenged General Du Couteau, turning to face his challenger. "Her abilities exceed the finest students of magic in Noxus. Do you require a demonstration?"

"All..." Boram interrupted. "In due time, Marcus. Let us save our discourse. Please, my companion, you may sit."

The young man motioned with his arm, his fingertips gracing the pink light, seeming to disintegrate into bone as they did so. The light of true vision revealed him as he truly was.

The general complied, his heavy boots and cloak scraped on the stone as he sat.

"The Sinister Blade may join her father's side," Boram added modestly.

Lux now stood alone in the center of the room. The giant eye narrowed as it focused its light on her, descending the thrones and the rest of the room into darkness.

"Noxus has yet to deliver a mage to the League," the general continued, unseen. "Your candidacy appeals to the Will of Noxus, but we must know where your loyalties lie, Sinistra. I suspect that there are secrets you have yet to share. We must know your past, present and future. We must know your mind."

Lux stood unwavering, thinking of her brother, Garen. It was the only image she could cling to that she found the ability to hold fast in the face of this interrogation. 

But a figure emerged into the light from beside the general that caused her mind to race. It was a man, clearly, donning a long, hooded robe of purple, fringed with streaks of indigo.

A Noxian summoner.

"The High Command will now probe your mind," smiled the voice of the disturbingly young general. "We will know who lies within that beautiful facade. Let us see what you know."

The robed figure approached her quickly, arm outstretched, face hidden. Lux felt as though the room was melting around her. The pink light dimmed as the eye above them slowly closed its lid. She found herself in complete darkness, the last image she saw was the summoner's hand reaching out towards her forehead.

Lux's eyes darted around, seeing nothing. Her mind could no longer hold back, unwanted images flashing of the things that she longed for, of her home, Demacia, her family, her school, the spies of the Sprig... Reginald.

"Lux," came a soft whisper.

What? It couldn't be...

The hand rested on her hair, causing her to flinch. It felt at the tips of her roots and moved to her temple. The man’s voice was beside her ear. "Don't say anything. Just wait..."

It was... an illusion?

There was audible muttering around the room.

"What is happening?" the grand general demanded from the void. "What's wrong?"

A familiar voice rung out in the darkness, expressive and apologetic.

"My magic... I'm sorry... It doesn't seem to affect her, my eternal lord. The summoning is blocked!"

The eye opened immediately, causing Lux to flinch as she was engulfed in light. The hand was floating above her still and, beyond it, under the summoner’s hood, was a whiskered face with a hidden smile.

"Unheard of!" shouted one of the generals. "A mage that can resist summoning magic?"

"That's impossible," demanded another.

"It's true!" shouted Katarina from the corner of the platform. "She told me she could."

"Gentlemen," Boram deflated them. "This is most intriguing. General Du Couteau?"

"Imagine," said the general from his seat, as if the line had been rehearsed. "The capabilities of Noxus with a mage who can steal her enemy's very spells but also can resist even the most powerful of magics, those of the Institute of War's summoners!"

Lux turned to Katarina, whose eyes flickered only briefly to meet hers. It was a lie, of course. The robed imposter spoke out again.

"I can still read her mind," he exclaimed. "Although she is resistant."

"Do you wish to hide your mind from us, Sinistra?" General Darkwill asked, raising his voice.

Lux moved to speak again, but the disguised man spoke for her.

"My lord, she speaks through me. Her concentration... makes her unable to move her body."

Lux quickly closed her eyes to help sell this deception. Her heart was racing with adrenaline.

The room was silent, waiting for the summoner to speak.

"If you require a demonstration of her magical ability, I'll have to release hold of her," he continued to bluff.

"First, tell me," Boram continued, scratching his dimly lit face. "Who is this girl?"

"Her mind speaks in visions," said the false summoner. His voice sounded hesitant...

"My lord..." Lux finally spoke. The room quieted.

A lifetime ago it seemed, Lux had given a graduation speech to the families of Demacia. With grand words of idealism, she struck at the insecurities of adulthood with the familiar codes and creeds she had been raised to accept. And while she was met with thunderous applause at their saying, the words themselves were meaningless then.

"I will speak clearly," said Lux, surprisingly calm. The presence of a friend had granted her a strange clarity. "My heart is filled with a strong, ever-present desire. And because of it, I've always had an appetite for words, namely spells. But there is one word, the first word, that drove it.

She had the attention of her audience. Boram's pipe drooped as his hand stroked his chin.

"My short time in Noxus has taught me many things," she spoke plainly. "Here, in this city, was made available everything that my heart could desire. In the libraries of Blacktorch, I had access to every spell imaginable. Instead of theory, crafted in the scrolls were lifetimes and ages of knowledge. My appetite grew and grew. Each spell slowly became a part of me. I have learned hundreds of spells now. Each one more powerful than the last. But... I am filled with a strange unrest."

Boram's fingers crawled between each other.

"I found no satisfaction in it," Lux admitted truthfully.

There was a moment's pause. The false summoner lowered his hand and watched Lux.

"I've realized something, just now. If I were to have all the power in the world, all the knowledge in the world, what good would it do if it were to merely serve my own end?"

Her eyes turned to those around her.

"When I think of the word," she continued. "I am reminded that there is something greater than myself. I reach my hand out for it endlessly. But... I cannot steal it."

"What is this word you speak of?" asked the general, leaning forward.

"A city. A truth. A promise."

Lux hesitated, taking in these strange words that had come to her. A warm glow fell over her entire body, as though her very being were reinforced by invincible armor. It was not magic, not a known magic. She looked at her companion's hidden face, the one she knew so well...

"I've found it here."

The grand general clapped his hands together suddenly, his mouth popping agape in obsession.

"Yes! Your love of Noxus invigorates me!" he cheered. "I can sense your strength! I must see it put to use! Give her her wand!"

He leaned forward, looking at her as one regards fireworks, bringing his aged face into the true vision unwittingly. Katarina stepped into the circle and delivered Lux's weapon. But before returning to her father's side, she regarded the hesitant summoner.

She saw something.

But whatever she saw, it did not prompt her to interrupt. General Darkwill was clearly fascinated by Lux, or rather, he was absorbed by his own desires. She was made in his mind into something entirely other than what she had just shared with him, which was the real tragedy.

Lux looked at her wand. Its petrified wood hummed with the memory of a hundred spells. But it was time to change that…

Slowly, she began to recall them, so many spells, so much power…

The spellbook on her belt began to quiver.

Do not be afraid, she told herself over and over, letting the spells fade from her mind. She asked them, as though they were visiting spirits, to not return. To leave her.

The binding snapped and the spellbook was open, its pages fluttering as though blown by wind.

It was as though a heavy burden was lifting off her back. As she pushed away the promise of knowledge and power, the spells were overcome in her understanding by the greater power.

The light, in strength, returned.

The wand’s cracked focal gem suddenly burst, shattering pieces of gemstone across the floor’s depictions of power and glory. The pink light of knowledge was overcome by white, shimmering light that glowed from the end of Lux’s twisted wand.

She thought she heard the sound of bells as her eyes opened again. She looked at the wand, then at her arm. Her entire body was glowing... 

Raising the wand above her head, she struck the other end against the ground, shattering the second gem into pieces. Now light streamed from both ends, voluminous and strong. She could see the faces of all five generals, and Katarina, and Reginald.

She was glistening with light, exuding every visible color. Her feet rose, hovering above the ground, and she released the wand, letting it spin in the air in front of her. Incredible, impossible power coursed through her. 

She looked forward, hope now real and true and ready. The wand spun before her, between the Grand General and herself...

End it now, a voice called to her. She thought it might be the wand.

No, Lux replied.

She raised her hands above her head. The wand followed. Her beautiful violet cloak billowed around her as air seemed to rush from below, swirling across the room. Her long, golden hair enveloped her face as she raised her head to the darkness above her. 

She saw only light.

"Demacia..." she whispered.

In a silent burst, a beam of light like an infinite needle appeared at the center of the spinning wand, extending straight up. The air screamed as light seeped through the ceiling as though it were a pinhole filled with sunlight. In a roar, the line of light exploded into a size spanning the width of the platform below. The ceiling, rock and earth above crumbled into atoms within the beam as the entire hall was filled with blinding light. 

“Demacia!” she cried out over the roar. She wanted the whole world to hear.

The generals drew back, raising their arms over their faces as Lux cried out in amazement at the luminous force pushing her to the ground, still burning in a constant beam.

The hall began to crumble around her, large chunks of rock falling. One of them struck and cracked the floor. Another knocked one of the thrones to its side, tossing its inhabitant to the ground. The giant skull, in pieces, dropped between her and Darkwill’s throne. Dust rose all around her so that the only other thing visible was the light. It must have continued for only a moment, but the moment seemed to last for an eternity. Finally it was dark again, save for the starlight that now streamed from the massive hole in the ceiling.

Small strands of her hair that had been suspended fell onto her cloak as the ringing noise of the magic was replaced by the crackling of fallen rock. A small moan came from somewhere in the rubble. She looked up at the stars, bewildered.

Lux felt her hand being grabbed as she was pulled into the dust cloud around her.

"Hurry," said Reginald, tossing back the purple hood, revealing a surprisingly unshaven face. The dust around them began to settle on his curly dark hair. "This way!”

He led her by the hand off the platform to a dark corner of the room. He reached, producing the entrance to an unseen corridor. Quickly, he ushered her into it.

As Lux passed him into the candle-lit passage, she looked back into the ruined throne room. From the rubble, crawling on hands and knees emerged Katarina, clearly bruised. She was calling out around her, coughing.

"Sinistra!"

Reginald pulled at the heavy door, catching her attention. In the diminishing gap Katarina caught sight of the two of them. Her head rose as she pushed herself up with her wrists, disheveled cords of red hair covering her face. Her eyes widened in a moment of realization, and a furious cry was cut short by the slamming of the door.

Reginald pushed a flat metal bolt over the frame, locking the exit. Lux beamed at him.

"You came..."

"To rescue you, yes," he smiled.

"We all did."

Lux revolved on her heel to see Tanis, unusually dressed in common robes, smiling through his white goatee. Behind him Luther and Bethany stood guard over a handful of unconscious Raedsel guards and a mostly undressed man Lux assumed to be the real Noxian summoner.

"How?"

The unshaven Reginald but his hand on her shoulder, edging her onward. Over his shoulder, he lifted a wide sword.

"We'll talk as we go!"

"Right," said Luther, pounding his fist into his palm, a toothed grin appearing from his beard. "I've been waiting for years to clobber these Noxians."

“Well, we can't say they haven't had it coming," Tanis agreed, picking up a wooden staff.

“Bethany!” Lux exclaimed, looking at Tanis’s daughter, who smiled. She was dressed in a night-black skin-tight suit with a whip tied to her hip. Her long red hair was wrapped in a single, hip-length braid. She had a rope and grappling hook around her shoulder. “You really do look cut out for this…”

Lux jumped as the door behind her produced a muffled pounding sound. Behind the wall, she could hear Katarina yelling her name.

Without another word, they moved. The corridor was small, passing through a kind of kitchen, then a cellar, before coming to a more traditional door. Bethany opened it cautiously before disappearing through it. The others followed without hesitation.

"How do we get out of this place?" Lux asked.

"Well," Tanis said. "The same way we came in, I suppose..."

"But how did you get in? Not even I know where the entrances are. And all the guards…”

Lux's head turned as they passed the door to General Du Couteau's office.

"We had a little help," Reg, who was running ahead, turned back and smiled. "An insider."

"He said he'd meet us at the balcony,” Luther reminded him.

They arrived at the hall of stone pillars, now devoid of light and apparently empty, save for the burning of the brass torches hanging from the ceiling. The group froze as they ran into Bethany, who had stopped and who's eyes were locked on the entrance to the throne room. The large, decorated door was covered in rubble, as though the ceiling had collapsed in over it.

A lone figure crouched in front of it, tossing rocks and scraping rubble away from the gap between the two doors. He was yelling out over it, barking assurances between curses. Lux recognized his appearance.

"Damn it! General Du Couteau! Katarina!"

It was Talon.

"We need to go!" Lux whispered before dashing ahead behind one of the enormous pillars. The rest of them followed hesitantly in turn.

But as she paused, one of them bumped into her in the dark, sending her foot forward to catch herself. It hit one of the lamp stands, sending it crashing to the floor.

Talon turned immediately and was on his feet, his blade cloak swinging behind him. His cowl, she saw, was tossed back, revealing short brown hair. His plainness surprised her.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of Lux, and his legs were spread, ready to dash forward. Defensively, Lux raised her staff protectively in front of herself. She was uncertain how well they could fair against him.

A silent moment passed between them. Lux's companions glanced nervously at each other.

Then Talon stood straight, lowering his bladed arm, before turning away and returning again to the rubble. His efforts to clear the doorway became even more strained than before. He grunted as he worked.

"Let's go," said Luther to Lux as she stood watching him.

They ran down the row of pillars, seemingly endless, towards the wide opening that made up the mouth of the mountain, where a kilometer-wide balcony awaited them.

"Where is he?" Bethany muttered, looking around. Her long braid swung in front of her at her sudden stop.

They all stopped, bathed in the moonlight of a strangely clouded night. All of Noxus was beyond them, the edge of the balcony arched forward in front of them. But the night, Lux realized, wasn’t cloudy. It was smoke. Across the landscape of lower Noxus a plume of smoke was growing over the Palladium. But the shape of it was the most noticeable, the smoke had billowed out, forming the shape of a rose.

"What an impressive sight," came a scratchy voice from somewhere. "So many Demacians in a sacred place..."

A dark shadow followed the sound of wood clacking on stone. An old man emerged from behind the last pillar, a bird perched on his shoulder, a cane in his hand.

"Jericho Swain?" Lux gasped.

"Uh... That's not who we're looking for,” Luther clarified.

"No," Swain smiled, halting directly between them and the balcony. "And I think you've gone quite far enough."

"Get out of the way old man!" Reginald yelled naively. "We don't want to hurt you."

The old general ignored him.

"So, Luxanna, you've come this far, but I'm afraid you were meant to die in that room..."

"What do you mean?" Lux growled. "And how do you know my name?”

"Oh, a little bird told me," he grinned, his face increasing in wrinkles. The shadow on his face grew as his head lowered. "Your power has grown considerably since we last met. I told Katarina I'd make a better teacher for you. As usual, I was right."

Lux didn't respond, unsure what he meant.

"Jericho Swain," Tanis yelled, stepping forward. “What part have you played in all of this?”

The old man laughed. His bird cawed. He raised his walking staff towards Tanis and shards of lighting shot out of it, sending Tanis to the ground, howling in pain.

"I always get what I want, old man, and I always have my part to play. Whoever you really are, Demacian, you're a fool to throw away your life for this girl. She must die, as will you with her."

Bethany ran to Tanis's side. Luther stepped forward, putting his arm in front of Lux.

"Enough," he yelled. "You're outnumbered, wizard. Give it up."

Swain spread his arms dramatically.

"Oh, we are far more numerous than you..."

A dark look came over his face as though he would devour them all.

"YORDLE STRIKE!"

General Swain cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor as a small blade plunged into his good leg. The six-eyed raven flew into the air.

The blade belonged to a triumphant, furry creature, dressed in a familiar cape.

"Cecil!" Lux cried out.

"Damn, my leg!" Swain cursed, crawling onto his knees. "Filthy little... Ah!"

The same weapon struck his posterior.

“Stay down, villain,” Cecil grinned, before stepping backwards hesitantly. “Uh, oh.”

The Master Tactician growled a furious growl that melted into a gurgle before growing into a screech. His clothes fell away, his skin turning black, sprouting enormous feathers. His head shrunk into his huddled form, which was growing into something horrific. Two enormous black wings shot out of his back.

"My god..." Tanis groaned, still clutching at his chest. "What demonic bargain has he struck?"

"A beautiful one," came a hidden, silky voice from above them.

"Look out!" Reginald yelled, looking up. He pushed Lux to the ground. A metal clang rang out from the cracked stone where Lux had just stood.

A brilliant yellow and black cloak fluttered around the familiar appearance of LeBlanc, who rose dramatically in the light of the moon clutching her crescent wand.

"Clever Demacians," she hummed. "Trying to take away our prize."

"OK," said Luther, backing towards one of the pillars. "Maybe... we should run."

"Why run, hon?" LeBlanc hummed, throwing a golden band at him, which he barely dodged.

"Leave none alive..." the feathered husk growled in an inhuman tone. With a demonic caw, the figure exploded in a sea of loose black feathers, revealing a giant half-human, half-crow with a long, protruding neck and a bloodthirsty beak. "Devour... their... carcasses!" it hissed.

"What the hell is that!" Bethany screamed, pulling Tanis to his feet. Her, Luther and Tanis were separated from Lux, Cecil and Reginald by their two opponents.

"Hmm, alright," said LeBlanc, rotating her staff in her fingers. "I'd hoped to hold onto them for longer… But if you insist, Swain.”

"You're done using us as your pawns, LeBlanc!" Lux yelled, getting to her feet.

“What is that?!” an unfamiliar voice yelled from farther down the balcony. A lone soldier appeared, clutching a spear. His face was locked in horror upon Swain. “The commander is a demon?”

But before he could even react, LeBlanc shot forward, her matter colliding with the soldiers, distorting the air as she moved. In a terrible, brief, scream, the soldier collapsed into a pile of dust. LeBlanc ran her hand through her blue hair.

“Such a mess this evening has been…” she complained.

"Lux, who is this woman," Tanis asked nervously.

"LeBlanc the Magnificent, you can call me," the diva bowed low in reply. “Matron of The Black Rose!”

"She murdered Ayer!" Lux growled angrily, raising her wand to eye level. "And she's been manipulating the Sprig of Silver in his place all this time.”

"What?" Luther yelled in shock.

The crow monster took a step forward, a giant black claw scratching at the stone. His body seemed to pulse, growing more and more ferocious.

"Get to the sewer entrance!" Cecil squeaked, struggling to maintain his heroic composure. His eyes were locked on the beast, blade held with both hands.

The sewers, Lux realized, of course! Between them and the catacombs, they could get to anywhere in Noxus. Cecil must have guided them here!

"Get Lux to safety, at all costs," Tanis pleaded, struggling to walk as Bethany held him over her shoulder.

"Well, that's not happening," replied LeBlanc, firing a silence spell from her staff that knocked Lux to the floor.

"Lux!" Reginald reacted, running to her side.

"Quickly, Swain, before more guards arrive." LeBlanc turned to the monster casually. "Leave the girl to me..."

But the crow-man was in no mood to talk. It lunged at Lux, its wingspan so large, LeBlanc had to duck.

“Watch it!”

Reginald immediately grabbed Lux's arm and they and Cecil broke into a run, the thing formerly Jericho Swain clambering after them on hooked feet.

"Hey!" LeBlanc yelled angrily, turning to the other three Demacians who had already run for it along the pillars, after Swain.

"Hang on, Lux!" Luther yelled.

"Rude," LeBlanc said before simply vanishing. She reappeared on a large brass torch hanging from the ceiling. She began to swing on it. "Fine, I'll just watch you murder them from up here."

A swarm of crows began to fill the air above Lux and Reginald, surrounding them as they ran, appearing from beneath Swain’s wings as though they were spawning from the monster itself. Lux screamed silently as they descended, cawing and pecking at her face.

Suddenly, Luther dashed from between the pillars, fist raised. Running headlong into the breadth of Swain's wings, he struck at the bird-like face with a mean left hook.

The creature stumbled. Two long clawed arms reached for him, dragging him by the leg in retaliation.

"Lux," Reginald turned to her. "Use your magic!"

Lux looked at him helplessly, unable to speak, still bound by LeBlanc's spell.

The bird creature pinned Luther to the ground, stepping one of its clawed feet onto his chest. It seemed to be laughing in a birdlike screech.

Reginald's sword cut at its right wing, causing it to rear up, still keeping Luther pinned. A wave of ravens dove at Reginald, covering him in black, flapping wings.

Bethany grabbed her whip, slapping at the Swain’s face as Cecil swung his sword fruitlessly against the never-ending wave of crows.

"Hang on, Luther!" Reginald yelled, pulling the crows off of himself by hand.

Lux's eyes searched for LeBlanc, who was nowhere to be seen. She caught sight of the throne room entrance hundreds of feet into the mountain hall. There was no sign of Talon, and it looked as though the doorway was clear.

"Leave me!" she heard Luther yell. "Get to the sewers!"

"Like hell," yelled Bethany, repeatedly whipping Swain in the face. She ignored the ravens's attempts to stop her.

One large raven, Swain's pet, appeared on his shoulder. Its beak opened with a hiss, shooting a bolt of energy that burned at Bethany. She screamed in pain.

Then, one of the other birds attacked it.

The two creatures fell to the ground, scratching at each other. Swain, for the first time, flinched.

"My bird!" he growled low.

"S-Samantha!" Luther called out.

The regular crow, far smaller, pecked at the multiple eyes of Swain's raven, doing its best to dodge its deadly beak strikes.

Swain removed his claw from Luther's chest, reached out, and pulled Samantha, who cawed and struggled with flapping wings, from off his raven. Swain opened his mouth to eat it.

"No!" Luther cried out, standing, balling up both his fists together and striking with a large swing into Swain's head. The creature flew off balance and collapsed to the ground, kicking up hundreds of stray black feathers. Luther kicked the ravens off the fallen and injured Samantha and picked her up. He turned to the others.

"Let's go!"

The creature seemed to have slightly diminished in size as it struggled to stand up on its claws, its wings teetering.

The group ran towards the edge of the balcony, under it there was a sheer wall of stone that made up part of the Noxian mountainside. Cecil leapt over the edge, disappearing. Lux, who got there first, saw him about twenty feet below, at the mouth of a large sewage drain.

Bethany affixed the grappling hook to the balcony, tossing its rope over the side.

"Down, quickly," she barked.

As Luther helped Tanis down, Lux looked over her shoulder.

LeBlanc was dashing towards them.

Reginald swung his sword, knocking the staff out of LeBlanc's hand and sending it rattling to the floor. Its three hanging gems scattered, one of them rolling off the balcony.

"Ah!" LeBlanc cried out, clutching her stung hand. "You Demacian filth! My staff!"

"Not all according to plan, LeBlanc," Reginald muttered. "You killed Ayer? He was one of you once, wasn't he?"

LeBlanc lowered cautiously, unable to reach her staff.

"Don't associate us with that man," she replied in a normal tone.

"When he... you told me that he had a wife..." he began.

"She never loved him," LeBlanc interrupted, raising her voice.

Reginald paused, glancing at Lux. They were both backed up against the balcony. Bethany was climbing down next.

"Never," she reiterated. "Now die."

Reginald turned, too late, to see the real LeBlanc, still armed, strike out in a blinding flash of light. The force of the magic sent him and Lux over the balcony, falling far out, away from the sewer drain.

Lux's eyes began to water as wind rushed over her. The image of their three allies watching in horror from the sewer drain drifted away as the mountain-sized face of the skull loomed over them. She thought she saw a figure jump after them…

"Lux!" she barely heard Reginald yell from next to her. The sound of rushing air muted everything. She felt his arms grab her. Her whole body turned, and she could see him and the whole of Noxus fast approaching them from below.

"I said I'd save you!" he tried to yell. His eyes were not full of fear, but regret.

Lux realized that she could speak.

"You have!" she cried out. She pulled his body close to hers as the city below came up to meet them.

All around them, stones scattered, and a large crash boomed. They were immediately in darkness, and the shield spell cracked apart. They continued to fall before landing on what felt like hollow rocks, rolling together until the bed of rocks slowed their descent.

It felt like they were on a kind of pile.

No light came from where they had fallen. Lux struggled to her knees, hands pushing between what were clearly not stones but round, brittle objects. She was relieved to find that her wand was still safely clutched in her hand.

"Reg," she called out around herself. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," he said weakly in the darkness. "How about a light?"

Lux complied, producing a glowing light from the end of her wand. The sight that met her shocked her.

They were crawling on a pile of skulls. Not skeletons. Only skulls.

"Oh man," Reginald muttered. "What... or who... are these?"

Lux struggled to her feet, but found it difficult as the skulls cracked and fell away under her weight. She threw out a ball of light farther into the blackness.

Amazing, she thought, how strong the light was now. She had let the stolen spells go. She had really forgotten them, and it was somehow making her light shine brighter than it ever had.

But she still held on to one spell...

The globe of light continued to travel on. It finally met a wall, light brown, rounded in shape.

Lux commanded the light upwards...

Leaves?

With a raise of her wand, the light intensified, allowing a large, sustained glow to fill the cavern. Lux and Reginald stared in amazement at a giant, flourishing tree.

"Impossible," Reginald stammered. "Noxus can't support anything this big. Its water is poisoned."

"It must have been planted so long ago," Lux imagined. "And it's still here. Maybe its roots go down farther than Noxus's poison can travel."

"Amazing."

"Reg..." Lux turned to him. His feet were sunk into the skulls. "I thought... I was convinced I was going to die."

"Demacia wouldn't have that," he smiled as the light dissipated into darkness, leaving only the light from her wand. The immediate area around them was like an island of skulls in the darkness.

"How do we get out of here?" Lux wondered aloud.

"Well, our rendezvous is in the Black Hills on the western outskirts of the city. If we can find some way to the surface..."

"Sinistra!" a furious voice echoed all around them.

An area of skulls nearby exploded as a figure landed amidst them. A fountain of red hair fell around the face of an assassin, green eyes flashing in front of a familiar scar.

Lux immediately reacted, firing a ball of light into Katarina's chest. It seemed to slow her, making it difficult to get up from amongst the broken skulls. The magic made her body glow briefly.

"Run!" Lux yelled without a second thought. She knew that Reginald could be killed by her in an instant. Luckily, she's spent the last half a year sparring with Katarina and maybe had a chance to fend her off.

But Katarina didn't attack, even when regaining her footing. She simply yelled.

"Why?"

The word echoed. Lux struggled on the descent of rolling heads as their eyes met.

"You destroyed... everything..." Katarina whispered, her eyes seemed wild.

"I didn't intend-"

"Shut up!" Katarina yelled, steadily climbing towards Lux as they moved away from her. "Do you know what they'll do to him? The shame I've brought him?"

"I'm sorry..." Lux responded. "I didn't have a choice!"

"Traitor!" she growled, coming towards her on all fours. "I gave you everything you wanted, but you wanted more? What did Swain give you? What didn't I give you? What didn't I offer you?"

"I'm not with Swain. And there's nothing you could have offered me..." Lux stammered. "I could never really join you."

"What... do you mean? Sinistra?"

Lux's throat tightened. She shook her head.

Katarina's face grew dark. Her lip raised, exposing her teeth.

"What... Is your family name?"

Lux stood up and glanced at Reginald. His eyes were wide in reasonable fear. 

"Crownguard," Lux managed to say.

Katarina's face underwent a wild transformation. She repeated the name silently. It was as though the name was like a poison in her mouth. Her eyes widened and her lips jaw open slightly. Her chin raised in a slow and painful understanding.

"You... a Demacian..." she said with pure revulsion. Her eyes widened. "And you knew about Ionia... No... You've told them... They'll know it was you! They'll blame my father! Oh my god!"

"Please, Katarina," Lux raised her free hand diplomatically while holding her wand with a sweaty grip. "I never intended any of these things to happen to your family. The High Command is our true enemy."

"We are the High Command!" Katarina burst out, her blades longing for blood. She leapt forward, but something furry landed on her face.

"Ah!" Katarina stumbled and fell into the bones.

"Run, Lux!" cried Cecil.

Reginald grabbed Lux's hand and led her across the never-ending pile.

Lux's face trailed as they escaped, watching as Cecil leapt off Katarina, throwing skulls at her.

"Lux?" Katarina growled in confusion, unhindered by the distraction. She struggled to look for her weapons, then, giving up, followed after her targets.

"Turn out the light!" Cecil squeaked.

Lux complied, and the entire room became blackness. Reginald blindly led her in the same direction before Lux felt a paw tugging her wand hand.

"This way!" he whispered. "I can see the way..."

"You've ruined us!" Katarina yelled from somewhere in the darkness. A flash of wind rushed past Lux's head accompanied by the ring of metal. She ducked instinctively, struggling in the bones.

Finally, they came to a wall. Her hands felt the rim of a circular opening. Lifting herself up, she bumped into what she could only imagine were more bones. What was this place?

As Reginald was pulling her up, she felt Katarina grab her leg. The darkness wasn't enough to stop her.

"Lux!" Reginald yelled.

"Luxanna Crownguard!" Katarina snarled, half-mad. Her voice was monstrous in tone. "Garen's sister!"

In a burst of magic, Lux hit Katarina in the chest, sending her flying backward. The assassin’s body glowed with resonant light, lighting the bones as she flew away, tumbling down a cliff of remains until she could no longer be seen.

Her wand again lit, she looked at Cecil whose face was not its normal, plucky self. In fact, he looked unsettled, staring around at the bones.

"Bonethief," he whimpered.

"What? What's that?" asked Reginald.

"I want to go," Cecil said, growing somewhat panicked. "Please."

Lux moved down the corridor at a careful sprint, and the others followed her.

"Lux, the Bonethief..." Cecil continued, tugging at her. "I don't want him to get you.”

She'd always assumed he had been talking about some legend. Was there really some terrible monster that lived in the catacombs, collecting bones?

"We're going to be fine," Lux assured him, though his manner unsettled her.

They continued on for some time through a maze of large sewer drains. Certain passages were filled with water that they waded through. At each intersection, Cecil directed them, and his whimpering eventually diminished, but he would occasionally stop and brace his eyes.

"Keep moving, Cecil," Reginald encouraged. "You know the way. Take us to the western border."

"OK," he said, his eyes full of worry. "There's a lot of water here... We should go around."

"Katarina's hot on our trail..." Reginald pondered worriedly. "What do you think, Lux?"

"You're right. I know her... She's... not going to stop chasing us. Water should throw her off our trail."

"I hope you're right."

"Can you all swim?" Cecil asked.

Lux and Reginald exchanged a glance.

At first the water was up to their ankles, then their knees. They eventually found themselves wading waist-deep in foul-smelling water. They held their arms over the water to balance, as they would occasionally stumble over some foreign object that neither of them entertained imagining. They did, at some point, pass a floating body. It was ravaged.

"Plague rats..." Cecil warned, holding onto Reginald's shoulders. His cape floated on the surface of the water. His manner was really starting to concern her.

"Cecil, this may not be the best time," Lux said hesitantly, locking her eyes forward as the body floated past. "But I spoke with your father... He said he hadn't seen you in years."

"My... father?" said Cecil, still looking forward.

"Yes. He said that you'd been arrested, that you were taken to Zaun... And-"

Reginald started to make a choking noise. The water around him thrashed.

"No!" Cecil yelled. "No! No!"

"Cecil..." Reginald croaked, trying to pull the yordle’s arms off his throat.

"Stop, Cecil!" Lux pushed through the water, grabbing the yordle. His rodent teeth were bared and his eyes were flailing just as much as his body.

"Oh my god..." Lux reacted. "What did they do to you?"

"Get him off me!" Reginald pleaded, his voice struggling.

Lux held Cecil's head into her chest, and he bit at her, but she didn't let go. Finally, he calmed down and released his grip on Reginald. Lux could feel blood on her skin.

"Bad things..." Cecil was weeping in her arms, his fur wet and stinking.

"They're gone, Cecil. They're gone," Lux assured him.

"Bad things are here!" he insisted, looking past her.

Lux turned in the water and was met with a giant set of rodent teeth.

Reginald pulled her back as the plague rat snapped, jumping into the water. Its furry body floated on the surface, its scaly tail floating behind.

Lux screamed, striking at it with her wand. The body spun in the water, slightly submerged. A gurgle and hiss rose from it as its body contorted to come at her again.

"We have to move!" yelled Reginald.

Its eyes reflected the light from her wand, and many, many pairs similar appeared in the distance of the tunnel behind them.

Without speaking, they scrambled, panting, swimming with their arms, anything to move faster. The tunnel opened up into a larger cavern all filled with water, like an underground lake with pipes and stone everywhere. Looking up, Lux could see plague rats lingering on the pipes high above them, screeching.

"It's some kind of nest," Reginald muttered. "We're in trouble."

Lux shook the seemingly unconscious yordle. "Cecil, Cecil, which way do we go?"

The boy didn't respond. His eyes were open, but he seemed lost somewhere.

"Bonethief," he only said. "Bonethief."

"Quick, get out of the water!" Lux said in a panic.

"Where?"

Lux fired out a desperate ball of light from her wand, searching for sanctuary. Her eye caught an island near to their left.

"There!" she said before a plague rat pushed her and Cecil underwater.

Lux's eyes stung as she forced them open. Her wand remained lit underwater, revealing the snapping jaws of a gigantic rat. Quickly, it recoiled and was surrounded by blood in the water. She swam to the surface to see Reginald, sword in one hand, attempting to ward off a large number of rats. Their feet were barely touching floor in the water.

Where was Cecil?

"Cecil!" Lux called out. She jumped back underwater, looking for him. He was gone.

"Quick!" Reginald pleaded with Lux, struggling to kick with his feet towards the island. They swam together.

Lux made it first, clambering out of the water as quickly as she could. She immediately began shooting light magic at the horde, freeing Reginald to join her, but the rats kept coming, and their numbers were growing.

Reginald spotted a maintenance ladder at a nearby wall, leading to a small hole.

"That's got to lead to the surface!" he shouted, pointing.

But there were at least 30 rats between there and this island.

“There’s too many of them!”

Cecil suddenly appeared, crawling from the water onto the disgusting beach.

"It's coming!" he yelled in a panic. "I can't stop it! I can't stop it!"

"Cecil!" Lux shouted in relief, but something was clearly wrong.

His eyes were completely black, like they were pushing out of his skull. His hands seemed... larger. He started to writhe on the ground. His voice, normally light and squeaky, was low and guttural. His body was growing.

"Nooooo!" he yelled as his head threw back. His teeth were growing out of his face. Lux screamed.


	19. Mistake

The tip of Reginald’s sword moved from the plague rats to Cecil, the small yordle transforming before their eyes. He had grown to the size of a bear, with claws as large as swords. His burlap cape became like a collar around his neck. The monster thrashed its head and limbs as though in agony, letting out a loud, frightening bellow that sounded disturbingly like the Cecil they knew.

The plague rats turned on the creature immediately. The beast dove over the water, assaulting the horde. The dark water splashed up all around the chaos.

"Cecil!" Lux yelled as every rat descended on him. The Bonethief bit back, slashing their guts open and throwing them across the sewers. The dirty water quickly turned red.

"Come on!" Reginald grabbed Lux's hand, leading her into the water towards the far-off ladder, moving between the distracted rats. The rodents seemed to pay them no mind as they scurried forward to defend their nest from the greater threat.

Reginald plunged a sword into the head of one of the rats who turned on him. He reached forward and gripped the rusty ladder, pulling Lux through the water towards himself.

Lux struggled, locking her eyes on the wrungs in front of her and immediately attaching herself to them with her free hand. As Reginald helped her up, she tucked her wand under the utility belt on her back and climbed as fast as she could. The light from the wand’s ends continued to glow, reflecting off the thrashing waves. Reginald followed behind her. They climbed quickly away from the overwhelming sounds of growling, thrashing and screeching beneath them, up possibly hundreds of feet. 

She looked down after hearing the Bonethief cry out in pain. The faint light of the wand was not enough to see Cecil or the rats anymore. All she could here was the commotion. The low moans and howls filled the entire chamber. She couldn’t bear it.

Noxus was evil, she insisted. They had done this to him, him and probably countless others sent to the madmen of Zaun to create their weapons. Lux continued to climb, but the image of Cecil and that... monster, it was too much for her. She was climbing as fast as she could out of this damned place.

Home. She wanted to go home.

They entered a small, round tunnel leading up out of the corridor. The sounds beneath them became muted, and the light of the wand on her back brightened the meager space around them. When the ladder ended, Lux reached up with her hands, looking for another step. She discovered a door, which she fiddled with quickly. A small volume of smelly water poured over them as she opened the hatch. She stepped onto the top rung of the ladder and pushed at it with both hands. A dim morning light greeted them through the widening crack.

They emerged onto the streets of Noxus. Neither of them recognized this section of the city. The mountain, normally looming, was not visible over the tall roofs of the quiet residences, not from here. The air, normally foul, was a relief compared to the underground.

"Cecil," Reginald choked, securing the porthole in place. "That poor kid..."

"He'll be fine," Lux said quietly. "Let's just get the hell out of here."

Reginald grabbed her shoulder.

"Lux... You're OK?”

She looked visibly shaken.

"Just... Let's go, Reg. I want to go."

"We're going..." he assured her. "We've got a rendezvous waiting for us."

"I never want to come back," she couldn't help but say.

"Me neither."

"There's too much pain, Reg."

"Yeah."

"Why do people live here? I don't understand..."

"I don't try and understand... Come on..."

He held her hand the whole way, traveling through alleys, avoiding possible patrols. Once he got his bearings, he seemed to know where to go. As the poorly-paved streets rose up on an ascending slope, they could see that the mountain of Noxus was far away behind them, a smiling skull on the horizon. The city was calm. It was likely an hour or two before sunrise. From this distance, the landscape almost looked inviting.

They were heading west, into the hill country of the abandoned farmlands. Fierce battles against Noxian territory had ruined that area a long time ago, making it difficult to produce anything worth selling. The closer they got to Noxus’s borders, the poorer the city looked. The cobblestone was old, cracking, and loose. Here and there, outcroppings of grass sprouted up between the stone. The buildings were shrinking in size too. There were trees on hills. The air was growing fresh.

She was almost free… But she felt burdened.

Had it only been six months? She looked down at herself as they ran. Her beautiful clothes were covered in blood, hers and others. The fringes were torn and ragged. Her pants were discolored, seams frayed. Her hair was longer than she remembered.

“Were you surprised to see me?” Reg asked, rousing her from her thoughts.

She supposed that this sudden conversation meant that they were no longer in danger. Lux still hesitated to reply, looking constantly over her shoulder.

“Um… Yes, er, surprised isn’t the right word.”

She hadn’t had a moment to think about it, but now that she did it really all seemed a blur.

“How did you get back?”

He still hadn’t let go of her hand. He had abandoned his belt and was holding his sword sheath in his other hand, trying to keep it hidden as they moved.

“It’s a long story,” he replied. “Remember that night, when we had been communicating through the bird… later that night something happened to it.”

Lux’s hand went slightly limp in his.

“It had died, which meant that something had happened. Naturally, I assumed the worst, so I decided that I needed to get back to Noxus. I tried to convince Katarina to take me back with her, but…”

His voice trailed off for a moment, looking ahead. Lux watched him carefully.

“I just had to get back. I left in the night, and I don’t think they even realized I was gone. It was a long journey back, but I was able to pass through this region and sneak back into Noxus. This hill country has border patrols, but they’re very scattered and under-manned.

“When I got back… the Sprig of Silver was empty, and the Palladium. I didn’t know what to think.”

“Everyone was gone?” Lux repeated.

“Yeah, but that’s when Cecil found me. He told me everything, that he saw you being captured and someone like you driving away in a carriage. Together we managed to catch up with Tanis and the others. We managed to catch your carriage just before it reached the city wall. And sure enough, it was empty.

“There was no one left from the Security Brigade but the four of us, and everyone was committed to finding you. Cecil had heard everything and told us about LeBlanc and your interview with the generals. If it hadn’t been for him, we wouldn’t have known where to start looking for you, let alone how to break into the High Command.”

“He’d been following me around Noxus for as long as I knew him,” Lux acknowledged. “He was a good kid. He was so happy-go-lucky, that I didn’t even suspect…”

“It’s not your fault,” Reginald paused, squeezing her hand tighter. “What they did to him, they did it some time ago.”

“All he cared about was keeping us safe. He didn’t even know we were Demacians. He just liked us…”

“I’m… sure he got away from those rats…” Reg tried to console her.

Lux didn’t speak any longer.

They came to a field of grass, on a hill far above and away from the city proper.

She stopped walking and looked back at the distant black mountain, her home for the last six months. She suddenly started thinking about Katarina and her family. The last look she had seen of Katarina’s face, trust shattered in the light of Lux’s betrayal, haunted her.

The skull face of the mountain continued to hold her gaze. It reminded her of LeBlanc's card. 

"We're almost there..." Reg sighed, noticing that Lux had stopped. "Just a little bit more.”

"I came here for the wrong reasons, Reg," she finally said.

Reginald turned and held her by the elbows. The way he held her made her feel like he was worried she might run back to Noxus.

"What do you mean, Lux?"

"I told myself I was going to help people, make a difference. But I just wanted, I don't know, to be some kind of hero."

"Lux," Reginald smiled. "You've made a difference. You are a hero."

Lux looked at him. He'd always been there for her, at every step, he hadn't let her down. She wished she could say the same thing about herself.

"What does it matter the reasons?" he continued. "What you've done is amazing!"

Her brief smile faded.

"It matters to me. And I've done terrible things."

"Listen, you can't blame yourself for what happened to the Du Couteau's. They deserve everything that's coming to them. They made their choice a long time ago."

"No, Reg. You don't understand. We're the same. I'm a Noxian just as much as Katarina."

Reginald shook his head with a confused, open smile. "Lux, I don't understand."

She pushed his hands away and hid hers behind her back. Looking at the ground, she noticed a forgotten doll ragged on the ground.

"I... liked it," she admitted.

“What do you mean?"

"I liked being a Noxian. I felt free... to make my own choices, to accomplish things. For the first time, I didn't feel stifled."

"You... say you liked it. But now?"

Lux's mouth braced. Her eyes wanted to shut.

"It's... like I said. There's too much..."

"Pain?" he finished.

"Yeah..." she gasped. It was like crying but without any tears or sound. None of it would come out.

"I wish I could take it away for you," said Reg.

She looked up at him again, tears forming.

"Reg... I..."

"Pain?" said a cold voice from behind them. "You think you know pain?"

"Katarina!" Lux gasped, turning to face their pursuer. She stood patiently in the tall grass, head lowered, red hair swimming in the wind and the dark of the small hours. She was armed, but her hands were empty, balled up into fists. She tossed back her head, showing off the large scar that marred her left eye.

"Pain was the day the Demacians murdered my mother."

The wind blew angrily around them.

“And watching your father struggle against the tides of history, the ignorant masses uncaring for his devotion, enemies all around him. Seeing his allies abandon and betray him, one by one.”

Her teeth gritted menacingly. She drew one of her blades and pointed.

“Then you came along. You brought new pain into my life… To think I even considered you my friend.”

The word 'friend' hit Lux like a dagger. Katarina's face relaxed and her chin lowered.

"I don't blame you, Luxanna. So you were raised by jackals, it's only natural that you'd behave like one."

"Noxian scum," Reginald spoke up in retaliation. “She’s a saint compared to you!"

"Hide behind your piety, Demacian,” she sneered. "When she chose to destroy everything I have ever loved... oh, I'm sure she did it... with the best intentions."

The look she gave Lux was so full of vitriol that even the heavy wind seemed stifled.

"So," she continued. "I feel it's only appropriate to return the favor!"

In an instant, her blade went from her hand into Reginald's chest.

"No!" Lux cried out.

With a look of shock, Reginald fell to his knees.

"I saved his life!" Katarina yelled, stepping threateningly forward. "For you! Remember?"

Lux grabbed her wand, just in time to block another dagger, aimed at her throat. The metal ricocheted with a violent ‘twang’ against the spellshield. The barrier of light immediately shattered into fractals that flew off into the air. The force of Katarina’s attack was immense.

"Is your conscience clear? Crownguard?" the woman screamed, throwing dagger after dagger.

Lux braced herself against the unrelenting attacks, unable to move as she blocked them. 

"Your clothes... That wand... Symbols of my affection!"

Each blow struck the wand, causing it to creak. The force of her attacks were breaking through her shield every time, and the wand was not meant to stand this kind of abuse. Some of the daggers avoided the shield and tore through her ruined cloak, sending thin pieces of fabric into the wind.

Katarina's quiet rage had been loosed. She was attacking Lux like a madman, throwing weapons with inhuman speed, circling her. Her attacks came from every possible direction.

I can't block them all, Lux knew.

The wand creaked again, wood splitting open. Magical light was visible within it.

I can't attack.

One of the blades cut her across the cheek.

I don't know what to do...

"You never did learn!" Katarina yelled. "How helpless you are when you're alone!"

Lux braced herself, knowing that she didn't have the strength to use a shield this time.

Katarina readied her next attack with a frustrated expression.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

A dagger cut through Lux's calf. She cried out and fell to her knees beside Reginald, who wasn't moving. The wand fell from her hand, rolling away in the grass.

Katarina stopped.

Her eyes were wide in rage. She knew, as Lux knew, that the next attack could not be blocked. Something was stopping her.

"Why..." Katarina whispered in a faint voice. Her red hair was billowing in the wind.

Lux looked at her in fear. Her breath was heaving. She was helpless. 

Katarina was... hesitating to murder.

"I'm sorry..." Lux whispered meekly. The wind muted her words, but Katarina could see it.

Katarina's eyes fell to her dagger. It shook.

"I made... a mistake," Lux continued. "And I'm going to have to live with that."

Katarina looked at her again. Her chest was heaving. Her lips were curled inwards. Lux knew... all that rage wasn't for her.

“Sometimes you want something so badly… You don’t think about the consequences.”

Katarina's eyes shook.

“No matter how I try and justify it, it doesn't take away the regret I feel."

Somewhere in those eyes was a person very much like her.

"Katarina... all I can do... is ask for your forgiveness."

The eyes flared. Lux could see deep into them now, and inside was a maelstrom. Inside was death.

"Never!" Katarina screamed, throwing the dagger at Lux’s head.

A brilliant yellow light surrounded Lux, and the dagger bounced away. Lux watched as Katarina's shocked gaze rose.

A golden angelic warrior flew over Lux, sword like fire, causing Katarina to roll away from the fiery explosions descending upon her. A second armored figure, dressed in silver and blue, flanked from behind. Katarina barely dodged his sword as it struck the earth.

Garen?

"Attend to the wounded boy!" the Demacian yelled. "I'll deal with this woman."

The golden light faded from around Lux. The white-winged angel swung back around in the air and quickly touched down in front of her.

"Luxanna," she said. "The boy's name..."

"Reginald."

"Reginald..." she acknowledged. She lowered her head and began to pray.

Katarina cried out in frustration as Garen fought her. Her Sinister Steel cut at him, only glancing his thick armor as she dodged his wide, decisive strikes. Lux watched them, and her mind immediately recalled the League game, where Katarina had struck him down. But this time it wasn’t a game. In that instance she remembered the last of Yousef’s visions, and she feared for her brother’s life.

She picked up her damaged wand. Kayle was too focused on healing to notice.

She moved towards the two fighters. Garen swung defiantly as Katarina came at him with unbridled rage. She screamed "Crownguard!"

Lux raised her wand with a ready spell.

Katarina's eye shifted. She saw her mark.

And she vanished before Garen's eyes. Steel struck flesh. He spun around to see Luxanna, and Katarina standing behind her. He saw the bloody blade that was sticking out of Lux's chest. 

Katarina's head rested on Lux’s shoulder. She turned under her golden hair and whispered.

"I forgive you now."

Garen cried out in shock, and Lux watched as she fell, trembling, dying, to the ground. Katarina kicked her off of the blade, and as she rose defiantly, triumphantly, Lux's body shimmered, catching her attention. She watched as the illusion on the ground vanished in a familiar puff of smoke. Stunned, Katarina turned her head just as the petrified wood cracked against it, breaking in two with a spray of magical energy. Knocked unconscious, Katarina fell silently to the ground, and her red hair fell over herself like a blanket.

"Tricky... aren't I?" breathed the real Lux.

Lux dropped the piece of wand and, exhausted, dropped to her knees beside Katarina.

"Luxunna!" Garen yelled happily as he dropped his sword, fell to his knees and held her. He was much larger, heavier and more uncomfortable than a stuffed animal, but holding him felt unbelievably more real. Lux laughed in his arms.

"He lives," Kayle said simply, standing up, revealing a groggy Reginald.

Garen grabbed him up as well. They both easily fit in his arms. Reginald groaned.

"You kept your promise! For that you have my thanks, Reginald. All my thanks! Luxanna..."

He dropped the poor boy, whose chest wound probably didn't appreciate the bear hug, and took Lux by the shoulders.

"My sister," his formal demeanor quickly returned. "I apologize profusely for my rash actions. It was I who requested your removal from Noxus. I realized too late what a disrespectful act it was."

Lux sat bewildered. All this time she thought it was her father. Garen's head lowered.

"I assure you, it was my love for you as my sister that blinded me. I know that does not excuse the impertinence, but-."

"Garen..." Lux quieted him. The stoic face complied reluctantly, brown hair waving in the light wind. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. It felt like home.

Garen remained kneeling, looking between Kayle and Reginald awkwardly, clearly thrown off by the informal behavior.

"My sister, soldiers of Demacia do not typically cuddle..."

"Sorry," said Lux, looking into her brother's face again. It was the first time she'd ever met him, after all. "I hope your not running off somewhere so soon."

"Not at all, Luxanna. I'll be accompanying you and Reginald all the way back to Demacia. Kayle, to whom I am now indebted, agreed to accompany us.

They all stood up.

"What about Katarina?" asked Kayle.

Garen looked down at the unconscious woman. He turned her over so that she was facing the sky.

"This beautiful creature... Is protected by martial law as a champion of the League. She must return to Noxus and face whatever fate meets her."

"She might have preferred death," said Reginald, a comment which upset Lux.

They left her there, and they travelled on foot further west, the coming dawn shining behind them. There was a small, dirt road hiding behind the hill, where Garen's horse was affixed to a small carriage. As Kayle helped her and Reginald into the carriage, she coughed, stopping Lux.

"Yes? What is it, Kayle?"

The warrior was still wearing her helmet, so it was impossible to discern her expression, but her body language showed that she was reluctant to speak.

“You hadn’t met my sister in Noxus, by chance, did you?”

“No,” Lux replied. “I don’t think I know her.”

Kayle was silent, her golden helmet creaking as she lowered her head. She raised it again to speak. Her voice, normally bold and brave, sounded quiet and timid.

“Her name is Morgana. We don’t talk to each other… We don’t get along. They say she started a bakery at the Ivory Ward.”

“I have been to the Ivory Ward. It is very beautiful there.”

Kayle paused.

“They say she bakes the most delicious cookies.”

Lux thought she might understand.

“There are many good things in Noxus,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the hills of grass in the east. The coming sun blinded her vision, causing her to raise her hand.

“Along with the bad.”


	20. The Light of Demacia

Hundreds of feet above the royal courtyard, one could see every marvelous corner of Demacia. From the Nacian Aqueduct to the Trymon Arboretum, a soft autumn rain was falling in the golden city. A cascade of raindrops trailed across the tempered glass of the palace's tower rooms, reserved only for Demacia's most treasured guests. On the ground below, one could hear the sound of the Valor Knights performing their guard ceremonies in spite of the weather.

Lux's palm rested on the lower half of her face, supported by her other arm, which was wrapped around her stomach. Her body was bent over, and her eyes were fixated on the glowing image of the summoner screen in the center of the circular apartment. A warm, crackling fire behind her couldn't subdue her occasional cold chills as she watched. She’d been sitting like this for hours.

She had turned on the screen as a way to get her mind off of things, and time had slipped away from her. The swimming images provided an endless amount of distracting information: news, weather, entertainment, gossip… Many times she had considered finding more productive activities, but in this she found the most peace.

Sleep was difficult for her ever since her return from Noxus. She had always heard stories growing up of soldiers returning from war only to have it follow them home in the form of nightmares. Lux would dream too and, when she least expected it, be overtaken by images of Garen or Reginald in pain, Yousef and his wife bleeding to death, Cecil transforming into a monster, Katarina coming to her bed in the night and killing her…

Her trials in Noxus were, of course, the main reason she was here. Twelve Noxian assassins had already been arrested in Demacia since her return, nine of them carrying evidence that she was their intended mark. The palace was the safest place for her, and King Jarvan III had commanded that she remain there for an indefinite time.

While the people of Noxus and Demacia remained ignorant of Lux's infiltration of the High Command, the current events swirled with the consequences of her actions.

Last week, Jericho Swain was accepted as a champion for the League of Legends. There was no fanfare or press surrounding his acceptance. In fact, she would not even had known about it if Garen hadn't visited her specifically to share the news. 

They had watched as the men in purple robes discussed rumors of a pillar of light appearing in the night sky above Noxus, asking themselves and their audience what it meant. Garen had seen the light over Noxus himself the night of Lux’s escape, even from the Hill Lands. It was this light that had prompted his search for her, allowing him to reach her and Katarina in time. Someone had stepped forward with a photograph taken that night. The summoners had argued whether or not it was a fake.

She also received a publication called "The Journal of Justice" that was delivered to her once every two weeks. It purported to summarize the important news in Valoran while mainly focusing on the personal lives of the Institute's League champions. The last edition had actually mentioned her, talked about her family, shared her life story, although with no real details of her exploits in Noxus. While the story had been a seemingly harmless piece about Demacian exemplar, Lux couldn’t help but suspect that it was written for her.

This is what had prompted her to turn on the viewing portal, and it had remained on since. The viewing portals were her gateway into the outside world. She watched for hours and hoped that maybe, with each segment, her dedication would be rewarded. 

She turned a dial below the projection and entered a number. The portal shimmered, retrieving the past broadcast she desired, the same one she’d watched many times since she’d first seen it.

"It looks to me like a reflection, perhaps from a window,” said a muffled voice from the screen. 

The broadcast showed three summoners sitting comfortably at a table, with a blurry image of the mountain of Noxus behind them. Katarina Du Couteau was sitting with the summoners as a guest.

"A reflection?” one of the others replied. “Look you can clearly see it starting here and continuing on. And look, there's a kind of similar glow coming from the mouth of the mountain."

"I just don't see it, Alexander. It sure is exciting though. What are your thoughts, Katarina?”

Katarina looked into the camera menacingly. Her normal beauty was hidden behind bloodshot, dark-circled eyes. Her hands clenched together as she spoke. The hosts looked uncomfortable in her presence. Lux suspected that Katarina was a typically unruly guest. She hadn’t known her as someone to put on airs, let alone stage make-up.

"Noxus is a strong nation,” she said, almost robotically. “And it does not tolerate the proliferation of false rumors. This so-called ‘pillar of light' is nothing more than a fabrication."

"But we have testimonies from many Noxians who claim to have witnessed a pillar of light. How do you explain that?"

"If you say a lie enough times, people may start believing it," Katarina responded simply, showing no emotion.

“Well said,” one of the other summoners agreed.

Katarina was a regular figurehead in these League broadcasts. Lux had never realized how much exposure she received. It seemed like every other segment she was being talked about, analyzed, criticized, praised, scrutinized. Many of the play-by-plays of the League (which Lux had found herself watching regularly now) focused on her. Every day someone was speculating on Katarina's military activities, how she spent her free time, her love life...

That was the life of a champion, and her brother managed the same burden. He too was often seen in these broadcasts. Garen, normally quite stoic, would harden even further when the cameras fell on him. His voice, although still strong and assurant, seemed false. Kayle, his common companion, never entreated the cameras, refusing to remove her helmet in public and rarely responding to the probing questions of the media.

Lux involuntarily dodged to her left, nearly falling over.

It had happened again. She thought she saw a dagger flying towards her. It was just a house fly this time.

She put her palm to her chest to feel the quickening of her heart. She hated being cooped up here. She wanted to be with the Security Brigade, or with her brother, or at the very least in her own bedroom.

As she melted back into the couch, her arm tightened further around her own waist. The recording had passed on into some other segment about Noxian cuisine.

She sighed and pressed a button returning the screen to the live broadcast, where summoners were in the midst of talking rapidly and excitedly. Lux leaned forward.

The island nation of Ionia appeared with a red marker outlining the territories occupied by Noxus. The next image showed a small monastery with the bold word "PROTEST" superimposed over it.

"After years of tension between the nation of Ionia and Noxus, an incredible event has broken out at the beautiful Lotus Gardens. One of the monks of the Shojin Monastery has reportedly _set himself on fire_ in protest of the Noxian occupation of its southern states.”

Lux’s arm finally left her stomach as she pushed herself upright, leaning even farther forward.

"Meryl, do we have any indication as to what prompted this horrific event?"

"We can only imagine that years of frustration living in a divided nation have brought its people to the tipping point. This is the fourteenth year that Noxus has occupied Southern Ionia, yet the island nation has shown no signs of accepting their supposedly good-intentioned occupiers. The monk is apparently suffering immensely but is able to keep himself alive through the monastic art of healing himself."

"So this man is simultaneously healing himself while also being burned alive?"

"It is truly terrible, Tom. The Ionian people must be incredibly distraught over the actions of Noxus."

The broadcasters turned to the camera as though facing the audience.

"It really makes you wonder what kinds of terrible things Noxus is doing in Ionia."

"I've heard that the unnamed monk is making no sign of pain, neither crying out nor complaining, in an effort to invigorate his people to join him in quiet agony."

"For comment, Katarina Du Couteau has specifically asked to join us on this incredible broadcast."

Lux leaned forward even further. Katarina stood above them, choosing not to sit. The camera panned upwards to accommodate this.

She looked different than she had last week: composed, calm, beautiful. It was like she was a different person. And was she wearing make-up?

"Thank you. It is sad that this unhappy monk has chosen to harm himself for show, but I would like to remind your viewers that this is one man. This one man does not represent the people of Ionia, who are under the protection and guidance of Noxus. Ionia is a land of old ways, outdated ways. Sad, old men have passed down their traditions to the next generation, leaving them unprepared for the new order. 

“We have brought trade, technology and peace to a land that was isolated. The Southern Provinces are now far ahead of their Northern brethren, healthier, happier, ready to be a part of our world. Those that resist us insist on the old way. They seek to return to isolation and obsolescence.

“Those that resist us represent a minority who do not accept change, who do not want to live in our world. And unfortunately those that speak the boldest are often the voices that are heard. This one man, while young, seeks to avoid the future and live in the past. It is, as I see it, a far greater tragedy.”

Lux’s hands curled into fists. The lies of Noxus seeped from their mouthpiece.

She really was lost, Lux resigned herself to believe. When she had seen Katarina angry and tired last week, she thought that maybe it was a sign of her dissatisfaction, that maybe she had come to find her nation unsavory. It was a foolish hope. Katarina was, and forever would be, a Noxian.

The image of the burning man filled the portal, and Lux was captivated. Somehow it seemed obvious that she was watching an historical event unfold.

The fire around his bare body was not matched by the fire that burned in the man’s eyes. It was a fire not fueled by hatred, but something far more compelling. There was anger, yes, but she could see remorse. She found herself unable to turn away. She repeated the broadcast over and over to look at those eyes. There was something in them that she recognized.

Suddenly, she stood up, the blanket falling to the ground, and she went to the door and opened it. The Valor Knight standing guard outside looked surprised.

“My lady, you must remain inside.”

“I’ve had enough,” Lux insisted. “I can’t stay in here anymore! I wish to speak with the king!”

The guard stiffened, not allowing himself to show emotion while at the same time remaining kind.

“That is not a request I can grant, my lady. Is there someone else I should send for?”

“My brother Garen, then,” Lux conceded.

“Ah,” the guard replied. “I would, but I know that Sir Crownguard is not in the city, far to the east in Kalamanda.”

Lux stood in the doorway hopelessly. Her mind searched for anyone that could rescue her from this cage.

“Send for my father,” she finally said.

She had not seen her father since her return. Only her family was permitted by the king to visit her, and he had not come, likewise her mother, who never did anything to contradict her husband.

Lux paced around the circular room, no longer interested in the viewing portal. It had dulled her resolve. It had given her permission to hide from what happened in Noxus and to prevent herself from moving forward. Waiting… She had wanted to wait. But she could not postpone the world. It was moving without her.

Jericho Swain had entered the League of Legends. What was at the Institute of War that he wanted, or rather what The Black Rose wanted?

A knock came from the door.

“Lux, what’s wrong?” Reginald asked through it, not waiting for a reply. He was being kept in the room adjacent to her. They hadn’t spoken in the last few days…

Lux immediately went to open the door. His hair was still overgrown, like hers was. His always expressive face betrayed remorse.

“I heard you calling for your father,” he said, shifting on his feet as Lux remained in the doorway. “What’s happened?”

“Um,” Lux glanced at the guard, who was resolvedly facing forward. “Come in.”

She admitted him, arms crossed. Last week, she had let slip that she had seen him and Katarina in bed together. The conversation that had followed resulted in raised voices and slammed doors. Now both of them spoke in reserved, careful tones.

“Did you see the broadcast from Ionia?” he asked.

“I did,” Lux looked down at the floor.

“Even though the Institute of War is hiding it, Ionia’s leaders must know about the concentration camps, and the chemical weapons…”

Lux nodded. She had come to the same conclusion.

“Which means that all of Ionia knows. Can you believe it? This is all happening because of us.”

Lux had a hard time believing that.

“You don’t think that it is because of us that they are protesting, do you?” she replied. “Noxus has occupied them for fourteen years. This kind of response was inevitable.”

“You don’t know that,” Reg’s brow furrowed. “Fourteen years could have turned into another fourteen years.”

Lux replied with silence, turning to the window. She didn’t like thinking about this.

“I don’t get it!” Reginald finally blurted out. “Why don’t you want to take responsibility for all the good you’ve done? You’ve helped thousands of people find their voice.”

“Cmon, Reg,” Lux argued. “You know that I didn’t do any of this. All of this was The Black Rose’s doing. LeBlanc is the one that handed the documents over, not me! She used me! What exactly am I taking responsibility for?”

Reg stood his ground, walking up to her, which made her turn slightly away.

“So it was LeBlanc that fought Katarina, earned her trust, infiltrated the High Command, found out the truth?”

“Yes, she did! Through me!”

“So she manipulated you, fine. But it just so happened that her intentions and Demacia’s aligned. For whatever reasons she helped you, what came out of it was good!”

“I don’t know if it was, Reg,” Lux said seriously, lowering her head. “I really don’t.”

Reg was speechless.

“What… What do you mean you don’t know? Are you telling me this protest is wrong?”

“No, that’s not it at all.”

She sighed, lowering her hands finally.

“We gave them power, Reg.”

Reginald didn’t reply.

“If it hadn’t been for me, Yousef wouldn’t have died… And Jericho Swain…”

“Jericho Swain,” Reg interrupted. “He would have gotten what he wanted either way. He was already their choice for the League of Legends, remember? And Yousef would have still been General Du Couteau’s mark. Humiliating the Du Couteau’s was just icing on the cake.”

“So if I’m not responsible for those bad things, why should I take responsibility for the good?”

Reginald was finally silent, seeming to understand. They both stood there, looking at each other, both wanting to offer something neither was confident that they could.

“So what did you want to see your father for?”

“I’m tired of staying here, Reg. I want to go home.”

“But you can’t go home.”

“Let the assassins come,” Lux growled. “I stopped Katarina. Who’s to say I couldn’t stop them?”

“It’s not a matter of that, Lux. The crown wants us here.”

That was why she wanted to speak to the king. They had both served as insiders to the Du Couteau’s. Even though they had both given Demacia all the information they had to give, they were still of value to the crown. Their witness could be used, at any time, to harm Noxus, which made them far more valuable alive than dead.

Maybe that was why Lux didn’t like being here. Even in a cage, she still felt like she was being used.

“I talked to General Ryan. He says they plan to let us live in the palace. Not in these rooms. A house, with attendants. We’ll never be in want of anything ever again! Doesn’t that sound great?”

Lux couldn’t say anything. How could she tell him, him who obviously had feelings for her, that they didn’t want the same things?

They had kissed in the carriage, on the road through the Hill Lands. They had both wanted it, for a long time they both wanted it. There was passion and true, genuine affection. It should have been wonderful.

But throughout the kiss, Lux couldn’t enjoy it. It was like someone had offered her a meal while she was starving, only to have her hand slip through the plate as though it were air. The kiss was so dissatisfying that the two of them barely shared a word afterwards.

She pretended to fall asleep in the carriage because she couldn’t bear to see the disappointment on his face. She did love him. She wanted to show him the love he deserved, but she didn’t know how. Something had been ruined.

Maybe it was because of Katarina. Reg had explained what happened. She had given him an unusual amount of attention while in the Freljord, and he decided to use that to his advantage, to perhaps return to Noxus and be closer Lux in the service of the Du Couteaus. But Katarina didn’t want him in any honorable way, and he’d left him in the Freljord with his guilt.

She wasn’t angry with him now. She wanted to kiss him now, but what good would it do? She didn’t want to ruin things even more. Part of her hoped that he would stop loving her, so he could be free.

“You could live with me,” Reg suggested hesitantly, taking her hand.

Lux saw, in that moment, the happy image that her companion desired. He didn’t want safety and luxury alone in the palace.

Didn’t he realize that she was the girl who already had all of that and had thrown it away to go to Noxus? Hadn’t she told him that she had enjoyed being there, away from here? Didn’t he know that she was a Crownguard, one who must give their life, their safety, their luxury, for their country?

But the crown wanted her here, with him. The crown wasn’t demanding of her her own life. It was demanding her destiny.

Reginald looked into her eyes, holding her hand, ready to offer her everything. He didn’t know what that meant, she said to herself. He’s just a boy.

“Can you sit with me?” Lux whispered.

Reg nodded, and they sat on the couch in silence, holding each other while the rain battered on the window.

After awhile, they fell asleep there, only to be awoken by another knock at the door. It opened shortly after as they stirred.

“Luxanna,” the guard began as her father, Marcus Crownguard, entered the room.

She stood up quickly and Reginald with her.

Marcus Crownguard was dressed, as was custom, in his military uniform. It was a silver suit of armor with golden emblems in the shapes of eagles, draped in bright-blue velvet cloth around his shoulders and draping from his leather belt. He stood tall and strong, similar in appearance to his son Garen, but with shorter hair and a thick beard, both a deep brown heavily speckled with gray. His left hand rested on the sword King Jarvan had bestowed upon him. His other hand usually rested patiently against his right leg, but under his arm he now held a large, white box.

His eyes locked on her as he stopped in the doorway.

“Luxanna,” he said quietly, but firmly.

She blushed, realizing that she hadn’t seen him in years, and his first image of her was her being asleep in a boy’s arms. Reginald, on the other hand, seemed eager to meet his acquaintance but remained silent.

“Ten days you’ve been in Demacia,” Marcus began, not a hint of judgment in his tone. “Only now do you request the presence of your father.”

The days had slipped by in front of the summoner screen, but it really had been that long. She didn’t have a good reply prepared. She said nothing but did not look away from him.

“Your return has brought your mother and I great relief. Both her and I have been kept informed about your mission all this time. We prayed for your safety.”

Lux still didn’t say anything to him, too focused on his own words to come up with her own.

Marcus paused, his lips steady. His eyes blinked slowly before turning to Reginald.

“Reginald Goldenhall, I am eternally indebted to you for the rescue of my daughter. My understanding is that without your efforts, my daughter would have been left at the mercy of the High Command.”

He walked immediately up to him and put his right hand on his shoulder.

“You will always be welcome in my household as a treasured guest.”

Reg struggled not to grin in response. He stuck his hand out in offering.

“It is an honor to meet you, General,” he said.

Marcus looked down at the hand and, unsmiling, slowly took it and shook. His gauntlet was far larger than Reg’s own bare hand. He turned away, looking back at Lux.

“Will you say nothing to your father?”

“I…” Lux began.

The air of the room grew awkward quickly.

“I’ll… leave you two alone,” Reginald decided to say. “I’ll be in my room if you need me, Lux.”

Marcus watched him carefully as he left. When the door closed, he turned his head back to Lux, his voice only slightly warmer.

“He seems a good lad. Needs a haircut, though.”

He walked closer to Lux, his hand leaving his sword. He set the large white box on the table beside the sofa.

“As do you, it seems. You don’t look fit to be a guest in the palace. I’m surprised they aren’t taking better care of you…”

He brought both of his hands to her face. Lux’s blue eyes were wide surveying him.

“My, but you are so beautiful, even more than when you left for the Academy.”

“I was still a child,” Lux finally said. “I still had a lot of growing up to do.”

The overtones of her words were clear to him. He had not forgotten how much she had hated him for sending her away to become a soldier. Yet he showed no regret on his face. He looked firm and decisive, even when she challenged him. He was always so ready to defend himself.

“You are not a child now, my girl,” he acknowledged. “You are a soldier. You are a hero to the people.”

Lux couldn’t help but laugh.

“I am no hero, father,” as she had told herself over and over again while she was alone.

Her father responded to this statement with a curious look and a hint of recognition. He was very intelligent. He was always able to tell exactly what was going through her mind.

“Many have told me so, that you are a hero, in their eyes. Heroes are rarely a hero to themselves, but to others. It is not for you to decide whether or not you are one.”

He removed his hands and walked over to the window, looking out at the rainy courtyard below.

“You were a hero before you even entered the Academy,” he stated. “Do you remember your graduation day?”

Of course she remembered it. She had said her commencement speech to herself so many times that even now sometimes she would dream saying the words.

“I was never prouder of you than I was then. Not because of your studies or your achievements… Those came easily to you, you know.”

Lux wondered what he was proud of her for, then. She looked at him staring out past the rain as though into the past.

“Everyone present in that auditorium heard your words, and through them they heard the voice of Demacia, something that most people today only read about in history or from their fathers before bed. You spoke of the greatness of our country, the struggles of our present time, and the hope of our future. You made it real to them. You invited them to be a part of something greater than themselves. The words we speak every day became alive in you.”

He turned back to her.

“Do you realize that you shine a light far greater than that magic of yours?”

She didn’t know what he meant.

“The word, love,” he smiled at her finally. “When you speak the name ‘Demacia’, it sings.”

Lux was beside herself. He had never spoken this way to her before. He was heaping praise and love on her. All she had ever known of his voice were demands, discipline, restriction…

Again, he seemed to know her mind. He chuckled and shook his head.

“I never did give you praise, did I? I was hard on you. But Luxanna, you had no shortage of praise then. Everything you did you excelled in, and everyone told you so. The youngest Demacian to become a mage, to become a soldier… And a father must protect his children from the things he deems dangerous. For you, that was pride.”

He raised his hands wide, palms open.

“But now you are an adult. You are no longer under my roof. I am free to speak plainly to you, and I can tell you, my daughter, that I am proud of you. I have never stopped loving you, nor will I ever.”

Lux finally found words.

“It didn’t feel like love then. You knew I didn’t want to become a soldier…”

Marcus interrupted her, raising his voice.

“You were too young to make that decision for yourself. And like it or not, Luxanna, you are a soldier. You are a Crownguard!”

“But why was it so important for me to abandon my dreams, father?” she raised her voice in kind. “There was still so much to learn about magic, and I was ready to find it, but you insisted on taking it away from me.”

“I have no regret in the decision I made for you,” he said simply.

His implacable nature frustrated her. He had never given her a good reason to accept his decision and yet would stand here and tell her he had no regret.

“Why?”

He hesitated.

“Father, if you say I’m an adult now, then at least have the humility to tell me why!”

Marcus’s face hardened and his chest rose, his anger becoming visible. But he managed to subdue it, sighing silently through his nose. He lowered his face. But as he was about to speak, he became suddenly overcome and turned away, putting his hand over his eyes. Pushing through his stifled emotion, he managed to speak, but his voice was a higher pitch and softer.

“You have to understand… They wanted you… from the beginning. They practically had their claws stretched around you. The Academy was the safest place. There were people I could trust there.”

“Father… I don’t understand. Who wanted me?”

“The Institute…” he admitted finally, turning back to her. The skin around his eyes were red from pressure. “The Institute of War. They were negotiating with the College of Magic to have you transferred there. They wanted you to study magic under their care. You see, every teacher of magic in Demacia is under their thumb. They would have gotten what they wanted if I let them.”

He took her hands.

“You wouldn’t have understood. You were only thirteen. They would have taken you away from us, ushered you into their fold. The military was the only place that they couldn’t touch you.”

Lux couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All this time, she had thought that Demacia had forced her father to put her into the military, to use her as a weapon… It was a natural conclusion to draw. All anyone ever talked about was how powerful and great her magic was, what a great asset it would be to Demacia… But if what her father was saying was true… 

“Please, Luxanna…” he whispered. His eyes pleaded to her. “Please understand. I cannot ask forgiveness for my actions, but I hope you will understand.”

All the pain and heartache she had suffered, she wanted him to apologize for it, but he couldn’t do it, even now, like this.

“Everything your mother and I did, we did for you.”

“Me and Demacia,” she corrected coldly, lips tight. The words prompted Marcus’s hard face to crumble and break.

“Hang it all, girl,” he bellowed. “Can’t it be both?”

All of a sudden Lux burst into tears. She fell into his arms, and they were both overcome. They held each other both by the window, tears of the city battering against the pane.

“Daddy!” she cried into his shoulder.

“My girl,” he repeated. “My lovely girl.”

——————————

Within her father’s white box was Lux’s belated 16th birthday present, a five-piece suit of silver armor. It was stunning. The hip piece was painted purple with gold border, their family shield crest fastened on its center. From it draped a soft, white fabric with gold trim that twirled around her legs as she walked. Her chest plate was unpainted, yet even more decorative, conforming to the curves of her body. The shoulders were simple and elegant, clasped together over her chest by a white-and-gold band. From underneath the shoulder plates, small folds of the same fabric, almost transparent, bounced around her arms. The bracers and boots were silver too. Under it all, Lux wore a body suit, blue like the flag of Demacia, and white gloves. With her golden hair parted under a silver headband, she looked unmistakably Demacian, carrying a beauty of strength and elegance, with a hint of delicacy.

Lux wore her gift with pride as she stood before King Jarvan III. He sat before her on a golden throne with a giant banner of Demacia’s sigil behind him, a golden eagle eye across a blue sky. Instead of a robe, the king wore full silver armor and a red cloak. He bore no scepter or any other jewels of law, but atop his head was a tall crown of rubies, with the largest affixed above his forehead. He was the protector of the kingdom and the crown of glory. His rule was just. And now she came before him to offer her request.

Her father had arranged for this audience. He stood in the court beside her, along with General Ryan.

Jepson Ryan had been extremely displeased upon her return to discover that the pages of Lux’s spellbook were blank. The power of her Luminosity magic during the incident at the High Command had banished all Noxian magic from its pages, leaving the book empty and without value. She had never really liked using spellbooks anyway…

Marcus agreed with Lux’s plan, and he convinced Ryan to help advocate for them before the king. Lux was encouraged by their company, but she would have gladly stood alone if she had to. This was what she wanted.

“For what reason have you brought your daughter before the king, General Marcus Crownguard?” Jarvan began.

He spoke with power, demanding justification as a judge would, neither displaying content nor discontent.

“By your will, my liege,” Marcus replied. “My daughter, Luxanna, is meant to live here in these courts as your servant and protector. We would ask you to reconsider.”

“Is she not satisfied with my request?”

“I will let her answer that.”

He turned his head to Lux, who stepped forward boldly, well aware of her actions.

“My king,” she acknowledged. The sunlight that filled the throne room gleamed from her armor. “I am, and always will be, your servant. It pleases me greatly that you would have me live here in the palace, but I must request your leave.”

“Assassins from Noxus are actively seeking your capture and death,” the king explained to the court. Speak plainly. What is it you would have me do?”

Lux paused. She glanced up at the beams of sunlight shining down on them.

“I request to be sent in your name to the Institute of War, to join the League of Legends.”

The throne room, normally stoic, broke into murmurous noise. The king glanced around, then at Marcus.

“What is the reasoning behind this request?”

“Your will dictates that my daughter be kept safe from harm,” Marcus explained. “While the palace will certainly protect her, the Institute of War would offer even greater protection, diplomatic immunity and, most importantly, access to their magical libraries.”

The king’s hand moved to his chin. Jepson Ryan spoke in turn, his hair looking even more yellow in the sunlight.

“Noxus would be forced to end any effort to harm her, leaving her free to serve the crown without inhibition. Luxanna Crownguard is the best soldier your Security Brigade has to offer. She is one of our finest mages, even though she is young…”

“What difference does her age make?” the king interrupted. “From what I understand, Luxanna, you have seen more of Noxus than any of my most experienced soldiers. But do you understand what you are asking for? The League of Legends will be your new home. You would be giving up many freedoms to serve me in this way.”

Lux thought of Katarina, who served her nation in the League, and her brother. She also thought of Jericho Swain. Who knew why he desired to join the League? She intended to find out. She raised her chin to speak.

“This is the way I choose to serve. My life, for Demacia.”

“Then it would be my pleasure to have you serve me in the League of Legends,” the king decreed. “And it is my will that you do so.”

Lux’s spirits soared. Her whole body appeared to those present in court to glow.

—————————

Lux stepped into the light of the afternoon, greeted by the cheers of her people.

The king had demanded a public event announcing her acceptance into the League of Legends. The Institute had approved her application immediately. It was all happening very fast. It had only been two weeks since she had returned to Demacia, and now she was already leaving.

Her mother and father stood beside her on the platform, banners of blue and gold flew above them in the wind and flags of white, gold and blue waved in the hands of the hundred-thousand-strong crowd. Many of those present called out her name in excitement.

Her father and been right. The people loved her.

The king sat with his generals on one side of the stage. The people’s court sat on the other. Directly below the stage, guests of honor from Ionia sat in a box adorned with their own banners, including the Great Tree of Ionia. Lux knew that Duchess Karma was one of those present, representing her home province of Shon-Xan. She had spoken to her earlier and explained that Yousef Bram had been her dear friend.

The kind words that the duchess shared assured Lux that what she had done in Noxus had been an inspiration for her people, who had historically distrusted Demacia like they did Noxus. This day they intended to acknowledge the light of Demacia, as she had put it.

The Grand Archmage, old and bald with brilliant golden robes, approached Lux as she looked over all of those present. He smiled at her and nodded. They too had also spoken. The Institute of War, Lux had expected, would be her new mission, and Demacia intended to use her to their full advantage.

But this time, Lux had resolved herself. I will not be anyone’s weapon.

After introductions had completed, Lux was given the opportunity to speak out to the city. The words came easily to her. Her voice was bright and encouraging.

“This world is full of darkness,” she began, prompting a silence that allowed her voice to echo. “I have seen it. I have felt it. It is strong and powerful. In its presence, men and women know fear and may falter, even be overcome or destroyed by it. It is glad to have all of us for its prisoners. When all there is is darkness, one can feel lost, hopeless, and alone. Your thoughts turn to discouragement, and your trust in good things will wither.”

She rose both of her arms in encouragement. The soft, white cloth fluttered over her armor. Her words exceeded her age, yet her voice was youthful.

“But the darkness is not great, nor any good. Even in our darkest hours, hope never dies. It is far more eternal than the presumed eternal masters that defy it. And in the presence of the light of hope, all darkness recedes. It flees immediately in terror.

“I am Luxanna Crownguard, your servant, beloved Demacia. I stand in defiance of all darkness, wielding the power of Luminosity, and I will bring its light to every dark corner of Valoran. I intend today to join the League of Legends, so that the light of hope may shine not only for you but for every eye to see. Here my words: this light will endure!”

She paused briefly, catching the eye of Reginald, who stood alone near the front of the crowd, an armored guard at his side. For all she knew, this would be the last time they would see each other in a long time. He looked sad.

“Do not be afraid,” she finished.

At this moment, the Grand Archmage stepped forward again, handing her a gift from the king. He spoke with a frail, yet enduring voice that filled the amphitheater.

“For The Lady of Luminosity, our bringer of light, the crown has chosen you as its champion, Luxanna Crownguard. Go forward and bring glory to our king!”

It was a wand, or really, a baton. Silver with a decorative golden band in its center. On each end, stems of gold bloomed, curving outward like a trident. Lux admired it, trembling at the beauty of the object and this moment, overcome by the power of her own words. As her white glove reached out and took the gift, prismatic light poured out of both ends. The Grand Archmage rose his arm to his face in response, and the whole of those present were in awe of it. Most of them had never seen this light she had spoken of, and now they knew.

The light was truly beautiful.

She raised the wand to the sky, and a brilliant, thin beam appeared, extending up into the clouds, perhaps into eternity. The crowd broke into overwhelming applause and the bells of Demacia sung out from their towers. Beyond them, the clouds billowed in front of a brilliant, Demacian-blue sky.

The light, she wondered, staring upward along its length. It had appeared so quickly, she thought it might have come down from the sky to her.

Lux laughed.


	21. Epilogue

Katarina sat in the study, staring at the small clock on the desk. It ticked nervously, eager to please its angry master, tucked behind the piles of papers around it. It simultaneously requested patience and urgency.

From upstairs, Cassiopeia’s screams were accompanied by the crashing and thrashing of furniture. Katarina put her hands to her head and stared through the clock.

It had all happened so fast.

Marcus Du Couteau had been spending more time at home. The two of them had not been speaking. She had avoided him at every opportunity. And now she regretted that.

He was dead.

He had stepped out the front door last night with his escorts, and hours later only the escorts had returned, bewildered. Her sister hadn’t let them live for that.

‘He is only missing!’ they had insisted, as Cassiopeia’s claws had cut their throats. Fools or cowards, they were. The two daughters knew better. No one in Noxus could take Marcus Du Couteau alive.

Katarina returned her focus to the desk and the paperwork in front of her. All of this was hers to manage now. The legacy of the Du Couteau family, or what was left of it, rested in her hands. This was not a responsibility she had been prepared for. Katarina was not like her sister. A resolved assassin, she had dedicated herself to her training at the cost of a proper education, a decision her father never supported. Cassiopeia should be sitting in this chair.

Katarina listened quietly over the ticking clock. Her sister’s current rampage had finished.

She was the only Du Couteau left with the ability to manage this household…

She had assumed, correctly, that the High Command wouldn’t even consider her as a replacement for her father. The Du Couteau name was a sour taste on the Grand General’s lips. The noble heritage that had commanded respect and reverence for hundreds of years was tarnished. She supposed many of them were glad to have him finally gone.

She pounded her fist on the desk and cursed herself for her own thoughts. She couldn’t help it. Her self-loathing had reached its peak, to the point where she had even considered suicide, but the Noxian blood that coursed through her veins would never allow her to stoop to such blatant cowardice. If she cut her own wrists, the blood would surely clot in defiance.

Most of her knives were currently stuck in the wall of her bedroom. She had yet to retrieve them many days after. The only knife on her person was the silver dagger that her father had always kept in this desk. She twirled it by its point on the wood. Upon the opening of the door, she raised it to her shoulder.

“Katarina,” Talon acknowledged as he entered the room.

She grimaced and tossed the dagger onto the papers with a ‘clang’. Talon paused in the doorway, holding the edge of the door with his left hand.

“What do you want? What is it?” Katarina demanded, not desiring his presence.

Talon didn’t say anything at first, looking at his companion with as much remorse as he was capable of, which wasn’t much.

Katarina’s face suddenly sunk. The possibility that her father was still alive came and went in an instant. Then she considered that he knew the name of his killer. Either way, he had her interest.

“What did you find?”

“Nothing,” he said, still motionless in the doorway.

Katarina’s eyes pulsed, looking away and then back at him again.

“Then what the hell are you bothering me for?”

Talon hesitated to speak.

“The High Command has already made its decision.”

“Wh-…” Katarina struggled to comprehend, then immediately recognized the reason for Talon’s distress. “Who?”

The question was spoken with hidden disappointment and evident anger.

Talon shook his head as he spoke the last name she wanted to hear.

“They’ve named Jericho Swain his successor.”

“No!” Katarina yelled suddenly. “No!”

The papers of importance were flung across the room in front of the disapproving portraits of her ancestors.

She immediately moved for the door. Talon still refused to move.

“Katarina, it is done. The decision was unanimous.”

“One day he’s gone, did they even deliberate? They replace the man who should have ruled with a peasant? How much more disgrace can our family endure? Let me go!”

Talon had grabbed the unarmed woman by the wrist. He was stronger than her.

“There’s nothing you can do.”

“Shutup!” She didn’t want to hear it. He blocked the gut-shot that came from her left arm. He saw her move to shun-po past him, but he knew the technique well and inhibited her escape. She looked like she might bite him in her frustration.

“I command you to move…” she began.

“I don’t serve you,” Talon replied coldly.

She looked up at him, ready for his betrayal.

“Go ahead and kill me, then. You’ll be a free man…”

“A man is never free,” Talon argued. He made to usher her backward with his blade, but it didn’t faze her. She kicked with her left foot, pinning it into the wallpaper. Talon responded by slamming the door closed behind him as he stepped aside to free himself.

“I am still indebted to your father,” he continued, pulling the blade free. Katarina did not move to reopen the door yet, watching him. “Until my last breath…”

“I count your debt paid,” Katarina smiled hatefully. “Leave us.”

Talon quieted, standing tall and still. Then he leaned against the wall and gestured towards the door.

“I’m no longer blocking your way.”

“Thank you,” Katarina tossed her hair and stepped past him.

“You have fought alone for too long, Katarina Du Couteau,” he muttered, causing her hand to pause on the doorknob.

“What the hell do you care?” she whispered, opening the door.

“She fooled all of us, Kat.”

She stopped again, her eyes hidden under her hair.

“She even fooled the Grand General. They cover you with their own shame like cowards. Why do you so willingly bear the burden you don’t deserve?”

“I don’t want to hear you mention that girl around me,” Katarina growled.

“Not the Crownguard girl, Kat…”

Katarina raised her head. She didn’t seem to understand.

“LeBlanc,” he emphasized. “She was there that night. I saw her attack them…”

She stepped back in to the room and drew closer to him.

“I tried to tell you I suspected that girl was only a pawn, and not for Demacia. That fire you saw over the city, it came from the Palladium of Valor, where those spies had been working all this time. They had left long before the High Command held its interview.”

“So when LeBlanc kidnapped… that girl… She was holding her prisoner? Why?”

“I suspect that she believed that the Crownguard girl would use her magic to assassinate the Grand General, or maybe all of them, including you and your father.”

Katarina was silent, contemplating this theory.

“No one else saw her there, Talon,” she noted. “Without my father, your word is worth nothing to the High Command, and neither is mine.”

“True, but I shared my evidence with your father. That’s the reason he left, to seek out Emile LeBlanc. And he never returned.”

Katarina understood now. The real enemy was LeBlanc and the Black Rose. What now, then?

“Katarina,” he cautioned her preemptively. “We do not know who is a friend and who is an enemy, so we must keep this to ourselves… and be patient.”

Patient? The clock had been ticking the whole time.

“So we wait while the Black Rose grows in power? While a power-hungry mongrel like Swain sits on a noble’s throne? How much longer until the entirety of Noxus is buried underground?”

“Katarina…” Talon sighed, struggling to find a reason to keep his defenses up any longer. “We are alone.”

Hearing the words from him was difficult.

“But you have me… and your sister.”

“I have a peasant… and a monster!” Katarina growled, ready to fly into the night. There would be no honor in suicide, she decided, but she would willingly die for vengeance. She was determined that Jericho Swain would never sit her father’s throne!

Talon did not follow her. He walked up to the disheveled desk and grasped General Marcus’s dagger. The pressure of his glove gripping the handle produced a tense squeak. His eye caught sight of something underneath the papers. He reached forward and produced a broken piece of petrified wood…

The clock ticked on, and Katarina leapt into the courtyard towards the armory. Cassiopeia’s eyes watched from her bedroom window. They glowed.

Katarina knew the secret path to the High Command where she would not be seen tonight. She took the third cliff gate, and the watchful troll never saw her. Neither did the two guards who she easily knocked unconscious.

The last mark, she thought to herself. Maybe Jericho Swain had no hand in her family’s misfortunes, but he had seen all the benefit. This was enough to convict him, in her mind. She would see blood spill besides her own for all of this.

She approached her father’s former office, expecting it to be empty, but there was a light on. She ran her hand over the sign of the Hand of Noxus on the entrance, grasped the Sinister Steel in her hand and flung open the door.

The room was well lit by all available candles. The bookshelves were empty, and the desk was clear of all the familiar possessions aside from an inkwell and paper. Sitting over it, a tall black-haired man raised his head, revealing a hard face with a wide, hawk-like expression. The man’s lip curled into a sneer as he recognized his guest. From above his hairline, a single streak of white hair was slicked back with the rest of it.

Katarina froze in shock. She recognized this man sitting in her father’s chair. Darius was a commander best known for cutting off the heads of those he considered weak, even his superiors. Why was he here?

“You enter this office uninvited?” he asked, a growl arising from the back of his throat. “Do you understand the displeasure of the High Command you incur?”

“Where is Swain?” Katarina demanded, uninterested in the formalities.

“Swain made me Hand of Noxus,” Darius smiled, rising. He was an enormous man, dressed in armor bowled like mace heads. A wide, blood-red cape draped down his back and across his chest. “I ensure his will is done.”

“You mean the High Command’s will…” Katarina drew closer to the ground as he approached. He loomed over her with no fear of her drawn blades.

“The dungeons will be happy to have you, Katarina Du Couteau,” he smiled, reaching out for her. “This world has little use for nobles like you…”

She struggled to find a gap in his armor to target as he drew nearer. She was actually terrified. As she was about to move, a spray of gas dispensed from between Darius’s outstretched fingers, and Katarina suddenly fell, unable to control her muscles. The last image she saw was the approaching hard stone where once a beautiful rug had been laid.

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Enjoy this Spotify playlist that served as inspiration for the novel:

http://open.spotify.com/user/1236682299/playlist/6TeEKvaxcBbYbDtBtHFWIc


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